V 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 
LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT  OF 


COMMODORE  BYRON  MCCANDLESS 


<y 


f^ 


h- 


€^t  ^egenbatg  ^tefotg  of  t^t  Cxo^b^ 


^ 


lie  Liegendary 
Hijiory  of  the  Ltro/s 

A  SERIES  OF 

Sixty-four  Woodcuts 

From  a  Dutch  hook  fublifhed  by 
Veldener,  A.D.  1483 


047^  If^TEODUCrW?^ 

Written  and  Illuftrated 

By  JOHN  ASHTON 

TREE ACE 
ByS.  BARING  GOULD,m.a. 


Mt'^  iorfe 
A.  C.  Armstrong  6c  Son 

M.D.CCaLIXXVIl 


^; 


mp  v^i 


,  =-  M 


PREFACE. 


^^^<»=t- 


[HE  origin  of  the  mediaeval  romance  of 
the  Crofs  is  hard  to  difcover.      It  was 
very  popular.     It  occurs  in  a  good  num- 
ber   of  authors,   and    is    depided   in   a 
good  many  churches  in  ftained  glafs. 

I  may  perhaps  be  allowed  here  to  repeat  what  I 
have  faid  in  my  article  on  the  Legend  of  the  Crofs, 
in  "  Myths  of  the  Middle  Ages  :  " — 

**  In  the  churches  of  the  city  of  Troyes  alone  it 
appears  in  the  windows  of  four  :  S.  Martin-es-Vignes, 
S.  Pantaleon,  S.  Madeleine,  and  S.  Nizier.  It  is 
frefcoed  along  the  walls  of  the  choir  of  S.  Croce  at 
Florence,  by  the  hand  of  Agnolo  Gaddi.  Pietro 
della  Francefca  alfo  dedicated  his  pencil  to  the  hiftory 
of  the  Crofs  in  a  feries  of  frefcoes  in  the  chapel  of 
the  Bacci,  in  the  church  of  S.  Francefco  at  Arezzo. 
It  occurs  as  a  predella  painting  among  the  fpecimens 


of  early  art  at  the  Accademia  delle  Belle  Arti  at 
Venice,  and  is  the  fubjedt  of  a  pidture  by  Beham,  in 
the  Munich  Gallery.  The  Legend  is  told  in  full  in 
the  *  Vita  Chrifti,'  printed  at  Troyes  in  1 517;   in  the 

*  Legenda  Aurea'  of  Jacques  de  Voragine  ;  in  a  French 
MS.  of  the  thirteenth  century,  in  the  Britifh  Mufeum. 
Gervafe  of  Tilbury  relates  a-  portion  of  it  in  his  '  Otia 
Imperalia,'  quoting  Peter  Comeftor  ;  it  appears  in  the 

*  Speculum  Hiftoriale '  of  Gottfried  of  Viterbo,  in  the 

*  Chronicon  Engelhufii,'  and  eifewhere." 

In  the  very  curious  Creation  window  of  S.  Neot's 
Church,  Cornwall,  Seth  is  reprefented  putting  three 
pips  of  the  Tree  of  Life  into  the  mouth  and  noftrils 
of  dead  Adam,  as  he  buries  him. 

Of  the  popularity  of  the  ftory  of  the  Crofs  there 
can  be  no  doubt,  but  its  origin  is  involved  in  obfcurity. 
It  is  generally  poffible  to  track  moft  of  the  religious 
and  popular  folk  tales  and  romances  of  the  Middle 
Ages  to  their  origin,  which  is  frequently  Oriental,  but 
it  is  not  eafy  to  do  fo  with  the  Legend  of  the  Crofs. 
It  would  rather  feem  that  it  was  made  up  by  fome 
romancer  out  of  all  kinds  of  pre-exifting  material,  with 
no  other  obje6t  than  to  write  a  religious  novel  for  pious 
readers,  to  difplace  the  fenfuous  novels  which  were 
much  in  vogue. 


We  know  that  this  was  largely  done  after  the  third 
century,  and  a  number  of  martyr  legends,  fuch 
as  thofe  of  S.  Apollinaris  Syncletica,  SS.  Cyprian  and 
Juftina,  the  ftory  of  Duke  Procopius,  S.  Euphrofyne, 
SS.  Zofimus  and  Mary,  SS.Theophanes  and  Panfemne, 
and  many  others  were  compofed  with  this  objed:.  The 
earlieft  of  all  is  undoubtedly  the  Clementine  Recog- 
nitions, which  dates  from  a  remotely  early  period, 
and  carries  us  into  the  heart  of  Petrine  Chriftianity, 
and  in  which  many  a  covert  attack  is  made  on  S.  Paul 
and  his  teaching.  On  the  other  hand,  we  know  that 
an  Afiatic  prieft,  as  Tertullian  tells  us,  wrote  a  romance 
on  "  Paul  and  Thecla,  out  of  love  to  Paul."  S.  Jerome 
fays  that  a  Pauline  zealot,  when  convidled  before  his 
bifhop  of  having  written  the  romance,  tried  to  excul- 
pate himfelf  by  faying  that  he  had  done  it  out  of 
admiration  for  S.  Paul,  but  the  Bifhop  would  not 
accept  the  excufe,  and  deprived  him.  Unfortunately 
this  romance  has  not  come  down  to  us,  though  we 
have  another  on  S.  Paul  and  his  relations  to  Thecla, 
who  is  faid  to  have  accompanied  him  on  his  apoftolic 
rambles,  difguifed  in  male  attire. 

The  Greek  romance  literature  was  not  wholefome 
reading  for  Chriftians.  Some  of  the  writers  of  thefe 
tales  became  Chriftian  bifhops,  and  probably  devoted 


their  facile  pens  to  more  edifying  fubjeAs  than  the 
difficulties  of  parted  lovers. 

Heliodorus,  who  wrote  "  Theagenes  and 
Charicheia,"  is  faid  to  have  become  Biftiop  of 
Tricca,  in  ThefTaly.  Socrates,  in  the  fifth  century,  in 
fpeaking  of  clerical  celibacy,  mentions  the  feverity  of 
the  rule  impofed  on  his  clergy  by  this  Heliodorus, 
"under  whofe  name  there  are  love-books  extant, 
called  Ethiopica,  which  he  compofed  in  his  youth." 

Achilles  Tatius,  author  of  the  "  Loves  of  Clitophon 
and  Leucippe,"  is  faid  alfo  to  have  become  a  bifhop. 
So  alfo  Euftathius  of  ThefTalonica,  author  of  the 
"Lives  of  Hyfemene  and  Hyfmenias,"  but  this 
is  more  than  doubtful. 

Three  things  conduced  to  the  production  of  a 
Chriftian  romance  literature  in  the  early  ages  of  the 
Church  : — (i)  The  neceffity  under  which  the  Church 
lay  of  fupplying  a  want  in  human  nature;  (2)  The 
need  there  was  for  producing  fome  light  wholefome 
literature  to  fupply  the  place  of  the  popular  love- 
romances  then  largely  read  and  circulated  ;  (3)  The 
fadl  that  fome  bifhops  and  converts  were  experienced 
novel  writers,  and  therefore  ready  to  lend  their  hands 
to  fome  better  purpofe  than  amufing  the  leifure  and 
flattering  the  paflions  of  the  idle  and  young. 


Much  the  fame  conditions  exifted  in  the  Middle  Ages. 
There  was  an  influx  of  fenfuous  literature  from  the 
Eaft,  through  the  Arabs  of  Spain  and  Sicily ;  Oriental 
tales  easily  took  Weftern  garb,  in  which  the  caliphs 
became  kings  of  Chriftendom,  and  the  fakirs  and 
imauns  were  converted  into  monks  and  Catholic 
priefts.  To  counterad:  thefe  flories,  colledlions  of 
which  may  be  found  in  Le  Grand  d'Aufli  and  Von 
der  Hagen,  and  in  Boccaccio,  the  Gefta  Romanorum 
was  drawn  up,  a  colledlion  of  moral  tales,  many  of 
them  of  fimilar  Oriental  parentage.  But  befide  thefe 
fhort  flories,  or  novels,  were  long  romances,  fome 
heroic,  and  founded  on  early  national  traditions  and 
ballads.  To  thefe  belong  the  Niebelungen  Lied  and 
Noth,  the  Gudrun,  the  Heldenbuch,  the  cycles  of 
Karlovingian  and  of  Arthurian  romance. 

As  it  happens,  we  have  two  authors  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  living  much  about  the  fame  time,  one  intenfely 
heathen  in  all  his  conceptions,  the  other  as  entirely 
Chrifliian,  each  dealing  with  fubjeds  from  the  fame 
cycle,  and  the  one  writing  in  avowed  oppofition 
to  the  tendency  of  the  other's  book.  I  allude  to 
Wolfram  of  Efchenbach  and  Gottfried  of  Strafsburg. 
The  latter  wrote  the  Triftram,  the  former  the  Parzival. 
In  Gottfried,  the  moral  fenfe  feems  to   be  abfolutely 


dead  ;  there  is  no  perception  of  the  facrednefs  of  truth, 
of  chaftity,  of  honour,  none  of  religion.  Wolfram  is 
his  exadl  converfe.  Wolfram  gives  us  the  hiftory  of 
the  Grail,  but  he  did  not  invent  the  myth  of  the 
Grail,  he  derived  it  from  pre-exifting  material. 
The  Grail  myth  is  almoft  certainly  heathen  in  its 
origin,  but  it  has  been  entirely  Chriftianifed.  The 
holy  bafin  is  that  in  which  the  Blood  of  Chrift  is 
preferved,  and  only  the  pure  of  heart  can  fee  it ;  but 
the  Grail  was  really  the  great  cauldron  of  Nature,  the 
bafln  of  Ceridwen,  the  earth  goddefs  of  the  Kelts,  or, 
among  Teutonic  nations,  the  facrificial  cauldron  of 
Odin,  in  which  was  brewed  the  fpirit  of  poefy,  of 
the  blood  of  Mimer.  The  remembrance  of  the 
myfterious  vefTel  remained  after  Kelt  and  Teuton 
had  become  Chriftian,  and  the  poets  and  romancifts 
gave  it  a  new  fpell  of  life  by  chriftening  it.  It  was 
much  the  fame  with  the  ftory  of  the  Crofs.  In  the 
Teutonic  North,  tree  worfhip  was  widely  fpread ;  the 
tree  was  facred  to  Odin,  who  himfelf,  according  to 
the  myfterious  Havamal,  hung  nine  nights  wounded, 
as  a  facrifice  to  himfelf,  a  voluntary  facrifice,  in  **  the 
wind-rocked  tree." 

That  tree  was  Yggdrafill,  the  world  tree,  whofe  roots 
extended  to  hell,  and  whofe  branches  fpread  to  heaven. 


Northern  mythology  is  full  of  allufion  to  this 
tree,  but  we  have,  unfortunately,  little  of  the  hiftory 
of  it  preferved  to  us ;  we  know  of  it  only  through 
allufions.  The  Chriftmas  tree  is  its  reprefentative ;  it 
has  been  taken  up  out  of  paganifm,  and  rooted  in 
Chriftian  foil,  where  it  flourifhes  to  the  annual  delight 
of  thoufands  of  children. 

Now  the  mediaeval  romancifts  laid  hold  of  this  tree, 
as  they  laid  hold  of  the  Grail  bafin,  and  ufed  it  for 
Chriftian  purpofes.  The  Grail  cup  became  the  chalice 
of  the  Blood  of  Chrift,  and  the  Tree  of  Odin  became 
the  Crofs  of  Calvary.  They  worked  into  the  romance 
all  kinds  of  material  gathered  from  floating  folk-tale 
of  heathen  anceftry,  and  they  pieced  in  with  it  every 
fcrap  of  allufion  to  a  tree  they  could  find  in  Scripture. 
It  is  built  up  of  fragments  taken  from  all  kinds  of 
old  ftrudures,  put  together  with  fome  fkill,  and  built 
into  a  goodly  romance  ;  but  the  tracing  of  every 
ftone  to  its  original  quarry  has  not  been  done  by 
anyone  as  yet.  The  Grail  myth  has  had  many 
ftudents  and  interpreters,  but  not  the  Crofs  myth. 
That  remains  to  be  examined,  and  it  will  doubtlefs 
prove  a  ftudy  rewarding  the  labour  of  inveftigation. 

S.  BARING-GOULD. 


T'he   Legendary 
Hiflory  of  the  Crofs. 


>%^ 


g .TisgyoS:-ii5i3ms5^ Y\ F   Crofs  on  which  our 


Lord   and   Saviour   fuf- 

fered,  would,  naturally,  if 

properly    authenticated, 

^        be    an     objedl    of    the 

S^^  deepeft  veneration  to  all 


Chriftian  men,  be  their  creed,  or  fhade  of 
opinion  what  it  might;  but,  for  over  300  ' 
years  it  could  not  be  found,  and  it  was 
referved  for  the  Emprefs  Helena  in  her 
old  age  (for  fhe  was  79  years  old)  to 
difcover  its  place  of  concealment.'  That 
this  Invention,  or  finding  of  the  Crofs  was 
believed  in,  at  the  time,  there  can  be  no 
manner  of  doubt,  for  it  is  alluded  to  by 


A.D.  326. 


Cije  JLegentiar^ 


Rufinus  on 
the  Invention. 


St.  Cyril,  Patriarch  of  Jerufalem  (a.d.  350 
to  386),  and  by  St.  Ambrofe.  Rufinus 
of  Aquila,  a  friend  of  St.  Jerome,  in  his 
Ecclefiaftical  Hijlory,  gives  an  account 
of  its  finding,  in  the  following  words : 
"About  the  fame  time,  Helena,  the 
mother  of  Conftantine,  a  woman  ot 
incomparable  faith,  whofe  fincere  piety 
was  equalled  by  her  rare  munificence, 
warned  by  celeflial  vifions,  went  to  Jeru- 
falem, and  inquired  of  the  inhabitants 
where  was  the  place  where  the  Divine 
Body  had  been  affixed  and  hung  on  a 
gibbet.  This  place  was  difficult  to  find, 
for  the  perfecutors  of  old  had  raifed  a 
ftatue  to  Venus,'  in  order  that  the  Chrif- 
tians  who  might  wifli  to  adore  Chrift  in 
that  place,  fhould  appear  to  addrefs  their 
homage  to  the  goddefs ;  and  thus  it  was 
little  frequented,  and  almoft  forgotten. 
After  clearing  away  the  profane  obje(fts 
which  defiled  it,  and  the  rubbifh  that 
there  heaped   up,  fhe  found  three 


Hadrian  is 

[aid    to  ha-Tje 

done  this. 


was 


crofTes  placed  in  confufion.     But  the  joy 


^iftorp  of  tU  Crofs* 


XI 


which  this  difcovery  caufed  her  was 
tempered  by  the  impoflibihty  of  dif- 
tinguifhing  to  whom  each  of  them  had 
belonged.  There,  alfo,  was  found  the 
title  written  by  Pilate  in  Greek,  Latin, 
and  Hebrew  characfters ;  but  flill  there 
was  nothing  to  indicate  fufficiently  clearly 
the  Crols  of  our  Lord.  This  uncertainty 
of  man  was  fettled  by  the  teflimony  of 
heaven."  And  then  follows  the  ftory  of 
the  dead  woman  being  raifed  to  life. 

Not  only  did  Rufinus  write  thus,  but 
Socrates,  Theodoret,  and  Sozomen,  all 
of  whom  lived  within  a  century  after 
the  Invention,  tell  the  fame  ftory, 
fo  that  it  muft  have  been  of  current 
belief. 

The  punifhment  of  the  Crofs  was 
a  very  ordinary  one,  and  of  far  wider 
extent  than  many  are  aware.  It  was 
common  among  the  Scythians,  the  Greeks, 
the  Carthaginians,  the  Germans,  and  the 
Romans,  who,  however,  principally  ap- 
plied it  to  their  flaves,  and  rarely  crucified 


Other 
Authorities. 


PuniJJiment 
of  the  Crofs, 


Xll 


C6e  JLegcnDar^ 


Punijliment 
of  the  Crofs. 


free  men,  unlefs  they  were   robbers  or 
afTaffins. 

Alexander  the  Great,  after  taking  the 
city  of  Tyre,  caufed  two  thoufand  in- 
habitants to  be  crucified. 

Flavius  Jofephus  relates,  in  his  Anti- 
quities of  the  yews,  that  Alexander,  the 
King  of  the  Jews,  on  the  capture  of  the 
town  of  Betoma,  ordered  eight  hundred 
of  the  inhabitants  to  fuffer  the  death  of 
the  Crofs,  and  their  wives  and  children 
to  be  malTacred  before  their  eyes,  whilfl 
they  were  ftill  alive. 

Auguftus,  after  the  Sicilian  War,  cru- 
cified fix  thoufand  flaves  who  had  not 
been  claimed  by  their  mafiiers. 

Tiberius  crucified  the  priefiis  of  Ifis, 
and  deflroyed  their  temple. 

Titus,  during  the  fiege  of  Jerufalem, 
crucified  all  thofe  unfortunates  who, 
to  the  number  of  five  or  fix  hundred 
daily,  fled  from  the  city  to  efcape  the 
famine;  and  fo  numerous  were  thefe 
executions,    that    crofiTes   were   wanting, 


^iflorp  of  t\)Z  Crofs. 


Xlll 


T/ie  different 
forts  ofCroffes. 


and  the  land  all  about  feemed  like  a 
hideous  foreft. 

Thefe  inftances  are  fufficient  to  {how 
that  death  by  crucifixion  was  a  common 
punifhment ;  but,  Angularly  enough,  the 
fhape  of  the  Crofs  has  never  been  fatif- 
fadiorily  fettled ;  practically,  the  queftion 
lies  between  the  Crux  capttata^  or  immijfa^ 
which  is  the  ordinary  form  of  the  Latin 
Crofs,  and  the  Crux  anfata,  or  commijja. 
frequently  called  the  Tau  Crofs,  from  the 
Greek  letter  T.  The  T'^^^-fhaped  Crofs 
is,  undoubtedly,  to  be  met  with  moft 
frequently  in  the  older  reprefentations; 
and  the  more  ancient  authorities,  fuch 
as  Tertullian,  St.  Jerome,  St.  Paulinus, 
Sozomen,  and  Rufinus,  are  of  opinion 
that  this  was  the  fhape  of  the  Crofs. 
After  the  fifteenth  century,  our  Lord  is 
rarely  dep idled  on  the  Crux  co?nmi[fa,  it 
being  referved  for  the  two  thieves. 

M.  Adolphe  Napoleon  Didron,  in 
his  Iconographie  Chretienne,  gives  a  few 
illuftrations    of     the    antiquity    of    the 


Antiquity  of 
the  Tau  Crofs. 


Tau  Crofs  :  "  The  Crofs  is  our  crucified 
Lord  in  perfon ;  '  Where  the  Crofs  is, 
there  is  the  martyr,'  fays  St.  PauHnus. 
Confequently  it  works  miracles,  as  does 
Jefus  Himfelf :  and  the  hfh  of  wonders 
operated  by  its  power  is  in  truth  immenfe. 
By  the  fimple  lign  of  the  Crofs  traced 
upon  the  forehead  or  the  breaft,  men 
have  been  dehvered  from  the  moft  im- 
minent danger.  It  has  conftantly  put 
demons  to  flight,  protected  the  virginity 
of  women,  and  the  faith  of  believers; 
it  has  reftored  men  to  life,  or  health, 
infpired  them  with  hope  or  refignation. 

"  Such  is  the  virtue  of  the  Crofs,  that 
a  mere  allufion  to  that  facred  iign,  made 
even  in  the  Old  Teftament,  and  long 
before  the  exiftence  of  the  Crofs,  faved 
the  youthful  Ifaac  from  death,  redeemed 
from  deftrudlion  an  entire  people  whofe 
houfes  were  marked  by  that  fymbol, 
healed  the  envenomed  bites  of  thofe  who 
looked  at  the  ferpent  raifed  in  the  form 
of  a  Tau  upon  a  pole.    It  called  back  the 


^iUocp  of  tbe  Crofs. 


XV 


foul  into  the  dead  body  of  the  fon  of  that 
poor  widow  who  had  given  bread  to  the 
prophet. 

"  A  beautiful  painted  window,  belong- 
ing to  the  thirteenth  century,  in  the 
Cathedral  of  Bourges,  has  a  reprefen- 
tation  of  Ifaac  bearing  on  his  fhoulders 
the  wood  that  was  to  be  ufed  in 
his  facrifice,  arranged  in  the  form  of  a 
Crofs;  the  Hebrews,  too,  marked  the 
lintel  of  their  dwellings  with  the  blood 


of  the  Pafchal  lamb,  in  the  form  of  a 
Tau  or  Crofs  without  a  fummit.  The 
widow  of  Sarepta  picked  up  and  held 
croiTwife  two  pieces  of  wood,  with  which 
fhe  intended  to  bake  her  bread.  Thefe 
figures,  to  which  others  alfo  may  be 
added,  ferve  to  exalt  the  triumph  of  the 
Crofs,  and  feem  to  flow  from  a  grand 
central  picture  which  forms  their  fource, 
and  exhibits  Jefus  expiring  on  the  Crofs. 
It  is  from  that  real  Crofs  indeed,  bearing 
the  Saviour,  that  thefe  fubjedts  from  the 
Old  Teftament  derive  all  their  virtue.'* 


T/ieTau  Crofs. 


XVI 


Cl)e  Icgenuarp 


JVood  oj  the 
Crofs. 


The  wood  of  which  it  was  made  is  as 
unfettled  as  its  fhape.  The  Venerable 
Bede  fays  that  our  Lord's  Crofs  was  made 
of  four  kinds  of  wood  :  the  infcription 
of  box,  the  upright  beam  of  cyprefs,  the 
tranfverfe  of  cedar,  and  the  lower  part  of 
pine.  John  Cantacumene  avers  that  only 
three  woods  were  employed:  the  upright, 
cedar ;  the  tranfverfe,  pine ;  and  the  head 
in  cyprefs.  Others  fay  that  the  upright 
was  cyprefs,  the  tranfverfe  in  palm,  and 
the  head  in  olive ;  or  cedar,  cyprefs,  and 
olive.  Mofl  authorities  feem  to  concur 
that  it  was  made  of  feveral  woods,  but 
there  is  a  legend  that  it  was  made  from 
the  afpen  tree,  whofe  leaves  flill  tremble 
at  the  awful  ufe  the  tree  was  put  to ; 
whilfl:  that  veritable  traveller.  Sir  John 
Maundeville,  fays  :  "  And  alfo  in  Iheru- 
faiem  toward  the  Weaft  is  a  fayre  church 
where  the  tree  grew  of  the  which  the 
Crolfe  was  made."  Liplius  fays  that  it 
was  made  of  but  one  wood,  and  that 
was  oak ;  but  M.  Rohault  de  Fleury  (to 


whofe  wonderful  and  comprehenfive 
work,  M^moire  fur  les  Injlruments  de  la 
Pajfion  de  notre  Sauveur  Jefus  Chriji^  I 
am  deeply  indebted,  fays,  "  M.  Decaifne, 
member  of  the  Inftitut,  and  M.  Pietro 
Savi,  profeiTor  at  the  Univerfity  of  Pifa, 
have  fhewn  me  by  the  microfcope  that 
the  pieces  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Crofs  of  Jerufalem  at  Rome,  in  the 
Cathedral  at  Pifa,  in  the  Duomo  at 
Florence,  and  in  Notre  Dame  at  Paris, 
were  of  pine''  And  he  adds,  in  a  foot- 
note, "  Independently  of  the  experiments 
which  M.  Savi  kindly  made  in  my 
prefence,  he  wrote  me  the  refults  of  other 
obfervations,  which  tended  to  confirm." 

Starting  with  the  Invention  of  the 
Holy  Crofs,  the  loving,  but  fervid, 
imaginations  of  the  faithful  foon  wove 
round  it  a  covering  of  imagery,  as  we 
have  jufl:  feen  in  the  cafe  of  the  feveral 
woods  of  the  Crofs,  and  the  facred  tree 
became  the  fubjedl  of  a  legend  (for  fo  it 
always  was   only   meant   to  be),   which 


Crofs  made 
of  pine. 


XVlll 


Cbe  Legcntiarp 


Caxtons 
Golden  Legend 


was  Incorporated  in  the  Legenda  Aurea 
SanBorufTiy  or  Golden  Legend  of  the  Saints, 
of  Jacobus  de  Voraglne,  a  colledlion  of 
legends  connecfled  with  the  fervices  of 
the  Church.  This  book  was  exceedingly 
popular,  and,  when  Caxton  fet  up  his 
printing-prefs  at  Weftminfler,  he  pro- 
duced a  tranflation,  the  hiftory  of  which 
he  quaintly  tells  us  In  a  preface.* 

As  this  Golden  Legend  Is  the  ftandard 
authority  on  the  fubjeft,  and   as   It  will 


*  "  And  for  as  moche  as  this  fayd  worke  was  grete  &  over 
chargeable  to  me  taccompliffhe,  I  feryd  me  in  the  begynnynge 
of  the  tvanflacion  to  have  contynued  it  /  bycaufe  of  the  longe 
tyme  of  the  tranflacion  /  &  alfo  in  thenpryntyng  of  y'  fame 
and  in  maner  halfe  defperate  to  have  accompliflci  it  /  was  in 
purpofe  to  have  lefte  it  /  after  that  I  had  begonne  to  tranflate 
it  /  &  to  have  layed  it  aparte  ne  had  it  be  (en)  at  thynftance  & 
requefte  of  the  puyfTant  noble  &  vertuous  erle  my  lord  wyllyam 
erle  of  arondel  /  whych  defyred  me  to  procede  &  contynue  the 
faid  werke  /  &  promyfed  me  to  take  a  refonable  quantyte  of 
them  when  they  were  acheyeued  &  accompliflhed  /  and  fente  to 
me  a  worftiypful  gentylman  a  fervaunt  of  his  named  John 
Stanney  which  folycyted  me  in  my  Lordes  name  that  I  fliold 
in  no  wyfe  leve  it  but  accompliffhe  it  promyfyng  that  my  fayd 
lord  {hold  duringe  my  lyf  geve  &  graunt  to  me  a  yerely  fee  / 
that  is  to  wete  a  bucke  in  fommer  /  &  a  doo  in  Wynter  /  with 
whiche  fee  I  holde  me  wel  contente,"  &c. 


5)ilIotp  of  tl)e  €tof0. 


XIX 


much  affift  the  intelligent  appreciation 
of  the  wood-blocks,  I  reproduce  it, 
premiling  that  I  have  ufed  throughout 
the  firft  edition,  20  Nov.,  1483  : — 

'  But  alle  the  dayes  of  adam  lyvynge 
here  in  erthe  amounte  to  the  fomme  of 
ip^VVV*  yere  /  And  in  thende  of  his  lyf 

*  This  apparently  long  life  of  Adam  is  admitted  on  all 
hands,  even  in  the  Revifed  Verfion  of  the  Bible.  The  Talmud 
lays  that  God  promifed  him  one  thoufand  years  of  life,  and  it 
is  recorded  that  he  begat  Seth  when  he  was  a  hundred  and 
thirty  years  old.  On  this  the  Talmud  {Erwvin,  fol.  18,  col.  2) 
has  the  following  comment :  "  Rav  Yirmyah  ben  Ehzer  faid  : 
All  thofe  years,  which  Adam  fpent  in  alienation  from  God, 
he  begat  evil  fpirits,  demons,  and  fairies;  for  it  is  faid,  '  And 
Adam  was  an  hundred  and  thirty  years,  and  begat  a  fon  in 
his  own  likenefs,  after  his  image  ' ;  confequently,  before  that 
time,  he  begat  after  another  image." 

This  term  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  years  feems  to  have 
been  a  period  in  Adam's  exiftence,  for  we  again  find  (Eruvin, 
fol.  18  b.)  ;  "Adam  was  a  Chafid,  or  great  faint,  when  he 
obferved  that  the  decree  of  death  was  occafioned  by  him  ;  he 
faftedvi  hundred  and  thirty  years,  and  all  this  time  he  abitained 
from  intercourfe  with  his  wife." 

There  is  a  Talmudical  tradition  that  God  Ihowed  the 
future  to  Adam  (Avoth  d'Rab.  Nathan,  chap.  31):  "The 
Holy  One — blefled  be  He  ! — fhewed  unto  Adam  each  genera- 
tion, and  its  preachers,  its  guardians,  its  leaders,  its  prophets,  its 
heroes,  its  finners,  and  its  faints,  faying,  '  In  fuch  and  fuch  a 
generation  fuch  and  fuch  a  King  flaall  reign,  in  fuch  and  fuch 
a  generation  fuch  and  fuch  a  wife  man  fhall  teach.' " 


Page  39. 


Length  of 
Adam's  life. 


Talmud 

legends 

rejpe^ing 

Adam^s  length 

oflife. 


XX 


Ot  %nucncgon  of  t^lp 
ci-orfe/  au^  fira  of  t^gs  ^i30Ite 
Juuenaon 


©iflorp  of  tbt  Crof0, 


XXI 


whan  he  (hold  dye  /  it  is  faid  but  ot  none 
audtoryte  /  that  he  fente  Seth  his  fone  in 
to  paradys  for  to  fetch  the  oyle  of  mercy 
/  where  he  receyuyde  certayn  graynes  of 
the  fruyt  of  the  tree  of  mercy  by  an 
angel  /  And  whan  he  come  agayn  /  he 
fonde  his  fader  adam  yet  alyve  and  told 
hym  what  he   had    don.     And  thenne 


This  isamplified  in  Midiafli  Yalkut  (fol.  12),  where  it  is 
faid  that  God  Ihowed  Adam  all  future  generations  of  men, 
with  their  leaders,  learned  and  literary  men,  and  there  he 
oblerved  that  David  was  credited  with  only  three  rours 
of  life,  and  he  faid,  "  Lord  and  Creator  of  the  world,  is  this 
unalterable  ?"  "  Such  was  my  firft  intention,"  was  the  reply. 
"How  many  years  have  I  to  live  ?"  afked  Adam.  "One 
thoufand."  Then  Adam  faid,  "  I  will  lend  him  fome  of  my 
years."  And  a  document  was  drawn  up  whereby  Adam 
transferred  feventy  years  of  his  life  to  David. 

S.  Baring-Gould,  in  his  legends  of  Old  Tejiament  CharaSiers, 
vol  i.  p.  77,  referring  to  a  Muffulman  legend,  fays  :  "  Finally, 
when  Adam  reached  his  nine  hundred  and  thirtieth  year,  the 
Angel  of  Death  appeared  under  the  form  of  a  goat,  and  ran 
between  his  legs. 

"  Adam  recoiled  with  horror,  and  exclaimed,  '  God  has 
given  me  one  thoufand  years  j  wherefore  comeft  thou  now  ? ' 

"  <  What !  '  exclaimed  the  Angel  of  Death,  *  haft  thou  not 
given  feventy  years  of  thy  life  to  the  prophet  David  ? ' 

"Adam  ftoutly  denied  that  he  had  done  fo.  Then  the  Angel 
of  Death  drew  the  document  of  transfer  from  out  of  his  beard, 
and  prefented  it  to  Adam,  who  could  no  longer  refufe  to  go." 


xxu 


Cfje  legentiatp 


Laughed  or 
Cmiled. 


Obtained 
true  mercy. 


Adam  lawhed'  firft  /  and  then  deyed  / 
and  thenne  he  leyed  the  greynes  or 
kernellis  under  his  faders  tonge  and 
buryed  hym  /  in  the  vale  of  ebron  /  and 
out  of  his  mouth  grewe  thre  trees  of  the 
thre  graynes  /  of  which  the  crofTe  that 
our  lord  fuffred  his  paffion  on  /  was  made 
by  vertue  of  which  he  gate^  very  mercy 
and  was  brought  out  of  darknes  in  to 
veray  light  of  heven  /  to  the  whiche  he 
brynge  us  that  lyveth  and  regneth  god 
world  with  oute  ende. 


?age  167. 


Of  old. 


j^HE  3lnvencion*of  the  holy  crofle  is 
faid  bycaufe  that  this  day  the  holy 
crofle  was  founden  /  for  to  fore'*  it  was 
founden  of  feth  in  paradyfe  tereftre  /  lyke 
as  hit  fhal  be  fayd  here  after  /  and  alfo 
it  was  founden  of  falamon  in  the  mounte 
of  lybane  and  of  the  quene  of  faba  /  in 
the    temple    of  falamon   /  And    of  the 


*  The  Feftival  of  the  Invention,  or  finding  of  the  Crofs,  is 
kept  in  the  Roman  and  Englifli  Churches  on  May  3. 


©ilfoc^  of  tbe  Crofs. 


XXlll 


lewes  in  the  water  of  pyfcyne*  /  And  on 
thys  day  it  was  founden  of  Helayne  in 
the  mounte  of  Calvarye/. 

Of  the  Holy  Croffe. 

j?JJHE  holy  crofle  was  founden  two 
hondred  yere  after  the  refurrexyon 
of  our  lord  /  It  is  redde  in  the  gofpel  of 
nychodemus^  /  that  whan  adam  wexyd 
feck  /  Seth  hys  fone  wente  to  the  gate  of 
paradyfe  tereftre,  for  to  gete  the  oyle  of 


'■'■-  Pifcina,  a  fifh-pond  :  Lat. 
to  be  the  Pool  of  Bethefda. 


In  this  inftance  it  is  fuppofed 


•f-  Nicodenius,  chap.  14: — 

But  when  the  firft  man  our  father  Adam  heard  theie  things, 
that  Jefus  was  baptized  in  Jordan,  he  called  out  to  his  fon 
Seth,  and  faid, 

Declare  to  your  fons,  the  patriarchs  and  prophets,  all  thofe 
things  which  thou  didft  hear  from  Michael  the  Archangel, 
when  I  fent  thee  to  the  gates  of  Paradife  to  entreat  God 
that  he  would  anoint  my  head  when  I  was  fick. 

Then  Seth,  coming  near  to  the  patriarchs  and  prophets, 
faid  :  I,  Seth,  when  I  was  praying  to  God  at  the  gates  of 
Paradife,  beheld  the  angel  of  the  Lord,  Michael,  appear  unto 
me,  faying,  I  am  fent  unto  thee  from  the  Lord  j  I  am 
appointed  to  prefide  over  human  bodies. 

I  tell  thee,  Seth,  do  not  pray  to  God  in  tears,  and  entreat 
him  for  the  oil  of  the  tree  of  mercy,  wherewith  to  anoint 
thy  father  Adam  for  his  headach  j 


f.  3. 


'V.  4. 


XXIV 


Cbe  Legennarp 


mercy  for  to  enoynte  wythal  hys  faders 
body  /  Thenne  apperyd  to  hym  faynt 
mychel  thaungel  and  fayd  to  hym  / 
travayle  not  the  in  vayne  /  for  thys  oyle 
/  for  thou  mayft  not  have  it  till  fyve 
thoufand  and  fyve  hondred  yere  been 
paffed  /  how  be  it  that  fro  Adam  unto 
the  paffyon   of  our  lord  were  but  fyve 

QfJtC  and  55S^^^  y^^^  I  -^^  another  place 
it  is  redde  that  the  aungel  broughte  hym 
a  braunche  /  and  commaunded  hym  to 
plante  it  in  the  mounte  of  lybanye  /  Yet 


•v.  5. 


"v.  6. 


'v.  7, 


'v.  8. 


"v.  9. 


Becaufe  thou  canft  not  by  any  means  obtain  it  till  the  laft 
day  and  times,  namely,  till  five  thoufand  and  five  hundred 
years  be  paft. 

Then  will  Chrift,  the  moll  merciful  Son  of  God,  come 
on  earth  to  raife  again  the  human  body  of  Adam,  and  at  the 
fame  time  to  raife  the  bodies  of  the  dead,  and  when  he  cometh 
he  will  be  baptized  in  Jordan  ; 

Then  with  the  oil  of  his  mercy  he  will  anoint  all  thofe 
that  believe  on  him  j  and  the  oil  of  his  mercy  will  continue 
to  future  generations,  for  thofe  who  (hall  be  born  of  the  water 
and  the  Holy  Ghoft  unto  eternal  life. 

And  when  at  that  time  the  moft  merciful  Son  of  God, 
Chrift  Jel'us,  fliall  come  down  on  earth,  he  will  introduce  our 
father  Adam  into  Paradife,  to  the  tree  of  mercy. 

When  all  the  patriarchs  and  prophets  heard  all  thefe  things 
from  Seth,  they  rejoiced  more. 


^iftotp  of  tU  (ZErofs. 


fynde  we  in  another  place  /  that  he  gafe 
to  hym  of  the  tree  that  Adam  ete  of  / 
And  fayd  to  hym  that  whan  that  bare 
fruyte  he  fhould  be  guariffhed'  and  alle 
hoole  V'  whan  feth  came  ageyn  he  founde 
his  fader  deed  /  and  planted  this  tree 
upon  his  grave  /  And  it  endured  there 
un  to  the  tyme  of  Salomon  /  and  bycaufe 
he  fawe  that  it  was  fayre,  he  dyd^  doo 
hewe  it  doun  /  and  fette  it  in  his  hows 
named  faltus  /  and  whan  the  queue  of 
faba  came  to  vyfyte  Salamon  /  She  wor- 
fhypped  this  tre  bycaufe  fhe  fayd  the 
favyour  of  alle  the  world  fhold  be  hanged 
there  on  /  by  whome  the  royame^  of  the 
lewes  that  be  defaced  and  feace.^  Salomon 
for  this  caufe  made  hit  to  be  taken  up  / 
&  dolven^  depe  in  the  grounde.  Now  it 
happed  after  that  they  of  lerufalem  (dyd 
do  make  a  grete  pytte  for  a  pyfcyne^  / 
where  at  the  mynyfters  of  the  temple 
fholde  wefflie  theyre  beftys  /  that  they 
(hold  facrefyfe  /  and  there  founde  thys 
tre  /  and  thys  pyfcyne  had  fuche  vertue, 


XXV 


Cured: 

French^uerir, 

to  heal. 

JVhole. 


Didfo — caufed 

to  be :  ivords 

of  frequent 

occurrence. 


Kingdom  ; 

French, 

royaume. 

Ceafe. 

6 

Dug,  p.  part, 
of  delve. 

Pond. 


i^ 


XXVI 


C6e  legennarp 


that  the  aungels  defcended  and  mevyd 
the  water  /  and  the  firft  feke  man  that 
defcendyd  in  to  the  water  after  the 
mevyng  /  was  made  hole  of  what  fomever 
fekenefle  he  was  feek  of.  And  whan 
the  tyme  approched  of  the  paflyon  of 
our  lord  /  thys  tree  aroos  out  of  the 
water  and  floted  above  the  water  /  And 
of  this  pyece  of  tymbre  made  the  lewes 
the  croffe  of  our  lord  /  Thenne  after 
this  hyftorye  /  the  crofle  by  which  we 
been  faved  /  came  of  the  tree  by  whiche 
we  were  dampned.  And  the  water  of 
that  pyfcyne  had  not  his  vertue  onely  of 
the  aungel  /  but  of  the  tre/.  With  this 
tre  wherof  the  crolTe  was  maad  /  there 
was  a  tree  that  went  over  thwarte  /  on 
whiche  the  armes  of  our  lord  were 
nayled/.  And  another  pyece  above  which 
was  the  table  /  wherin  the  tytle  was 
wryten  /  and  another  pyece  wherein  the 
fokette  or  mortys  was  maad  that  the 
body  of  the  crolTe  flood  in  foo  that 
there  were  foure  manere  of  trees  /  That 


ft)iGotp  of  tbe  €xot^. 


XXVll 


is  of  palme  of  cypres  /  of  cedre  and  of 
olyve.  So  cche  of  thyfe  foure  pyeces  was 
of  one  of  thofe  trees/.  This  blefled 
crofle  was  put  in  the  erthe  and  hyd  by 
the  ipace  of  on  hondred  yere  and  more  / 
But  the  moder  of  themperour  which 
was  named  helayne*  founde  it  in  thys 
manere  /  For  Conftantyn  came  wyth  a 
grete  multytude  of  barbaryns  nygh  unto 
the  ryver  of  the  dunoe  /  whyche  wold 
have  goon  over  for  to  have  deftroyed  alle 
the  contree  /  And  whan  conftantyn  had 


*  Alban  Butler,  in  TAe  Lives  of  the  Fathers^  Martyrs, 
and  other  Principal  Saints,  denies  that  St.  Helena  was  an 
Innholder  (Stabularia)  in  Bithynia,  when  Conftantius  married 
her,  and  fays  :  *'  We  are  affured  by  the  unanimous  tradition 
of  our  Englifti  hiftorians  that  this  holy  emprefs  was  a  native 
of  our  ifland.  William  of  Malmefbury,  the  principal  hiftorian 
of  the  ancient  ftate  of  our  country  after  Bede,  and  before  him, 
the  Saxon  author  of  the  life  of  St.  Helen,  in  970,  quoted  by 
Ulher,  expreffly  fay  that  Conftantine  was  a  Briton  by  birth." 
Leland,  in  his  Commentarii  de  Scriptoribus  Britannicis,  fays 
that  St.  Helena  was  the  only  daughter  of  King  Coilus,  the 
King  Cool  who  firft  built  walls  round  Colchefter,  and  the 
Englifh  Church  has  generally  recognifed  her  Britifli  origin. 
Her  feftival  is  kept  on  Auguft  18. 

When  her  huftand,  Conftantine  Chlorus,  entered  into  an 
arrangement  with  Diocletian,  by  which  he  had  the  countries 


XXVIU 


Cl)e  iLegenuarp 


aflembled  his  hooft  /  He  went  and  fette 
them  ageynft  that  other  partye  /  But  as 
fone  as  he  began  to  pafle  the  ryver  /  he 
was  moche  aferde  /  by  caufe  he  {hold 
on  the  morne  have  batayle  /  and  in  the 
nyght  as  he  flepte  in  his  bedde  /  an 
aungel  awoke  hym  /  and  fhewed  to  hym 
the  fygne  of  the  crofle  in  heven  /  and 
fayd  to  hym  /  Beholde  on  hye  on  heven/. 
Thanne  fawe  he  the  crofle  made  of 
ryght  clere  lyght  /  &  was  wryten  there 
upon  wyth  lettres  of  golde  /  In  this 
fygne  thou  fhalte  over  come  the  batayle/ 

this  fide  the  Alps,  namely,  Gaul  and  Britain,  he  was  obliged, 
as  part  of  the  bargain,  to  divorce  St.  Helena,  and  marry 
Theodora,  the  daughter-in-law  of  Maximinianus.  According 
to  Eufebius,  (he  was  not  converted  to  Chriftianity  at  the  fame 
time  as  her  fon  Conftantine,  who,  when  he  came  to  the  throne, 
paid  her  the  greateft  deference,  and  gave  her  the  title  of 
Augufta,  or  emprefs.  After  the  Council  of  Nice,  in  325,  he 
wrote  to  Macarius,  Biftiop  of  Jerufalem,  concerning  the 
building  of  a  fplendid  church  upon  Mount  Calvary,  and  St. 
Helena,  although  ftie  was  then  79  years  of  age,  undertook  to 
fee  it  carried  out. 

It  was  then  that  the  reputed  Invention  of  the  Crofs,  together 
with  the  nails,  took  place,  and  ftie  foon  afterwards  died,  but 
the  exaft  year  is  uncertain,  fome  authorities  giving  a.d.  326, 
others  328, 


Jj)morp  of  tbe  ^rofs* 


XXIX 


Thenne  was  he  alle  comforted  of  thys 
vylion  /  And  on  the  morne  /  he  put 
in  his  banere  the  Croffe^  /  and  made  it     ^t  wr 

Banner  of 
Confiantine. 


to  be  borne  tofore  hym  and  his  hooft  / 
And  after  fmote  in  the  hooft  of  his 
enemyes  /  and  llewe  and  chaced  grete 
plente  /  After  thys  he  dyd  doo""  calle  the 
byffhoppes  of  the  ydolles  /and  demaunded 
them  to  what  god  the  fygne  of  the  crolTe 
apperteyned.  And  whan  they  coude  not 
anfwere  /  fome  criften  men  that  were 
there  tolde  to  hym  the  myfterye  of  the 
croffe  /  and  enformed  hym  in  the  faythe 
of  the  trynyte  /  Thenne  anone  he  bylevyd 
parfytly  (in)  god  /  and  dyd  do  baptyfe 
hym  /  and  after,  it  happed  that  conftan- 
tyn  his  fone  remembred  the  vy6torye  of 
his  fader  /  Sente  to  helayn    his    modre 


Cauftd  to  be 
called  together. 


XXX 


C6e  LegenDarp 


for  to  fynde  the  holy  crofTe  /  Thenne 
helayne  wente  in  to  Iherufalem  /  and 
dyd  doo  afTemble  all  the  wyfe  men  of 
the  contre  /  and  whan  they  were  afl'em- 
bled  /  they  wold  fayn  knowe  wherfore 
they  were  called  /  Thenne  one  ludas 
Know.  fayd  to  them  /  I  wote'  wel  that  fhe  wyl 

knowe  of  us  where  the  crofTe  of  Ihefu 
crifte  was  leyed  /  but  beware  you  al 
that  none  of  you  tell  hyr  /  for  I  wote 
wel  then  fhall  our  lawe  be  deftroyed  / 
Grandfather.  Yov  zacheus  my  olde^  fader  fayde  to 
fymon  my  fader  /  And  my  fader  fayde 
to  me  at  his  dethe  /  be  wel  ware  /  that 
for  no  tormente  that  ye  may  fuffre  /  telle 
not  where  the  crofTe  of  Ihefu  crifte  was 
leyde  /  for  after  that  hit  fhal  be  founden 
/  the  lewes  fhal  reygne  no  mour  /  But 
the  criften  men  that  worfhypped  the 
crofTe  fhal  then  reygne  /  And  verayly 
this  Ihefus  was  the  fone  of  god. 

Then  demaunded  I  my  fader  /  wher- 
fore had  they  hanged  hym  on  the  crofTe 
fythe  it  was  knowen  that  he  was  the  fone 


J 


^illorp  of  tbe  Crofs* 


XXXI 


of  god  /  thenne  he  fayd  to  me  fayre 
fone  I  never  accorded  thereto  /  But  gayn 
faid  it  alwaye  /But  the  Pharifees  dyd  it 
bycaufe  he  repreyvd  theyr  vyces  /  but  he 
aroos  on  the  thyrd  day  /  and  his  dyfciples 
feeing  /  he  afcended  in  to  heven  / 
Thenne  by  caufe  that  Stephen  thy  broder 
belevyd  in  him  /  the  lewes  floned  hym 
to  dethe. 

Then  when  ludas  had  fayd  theyfe 
wordes  to  his  felawes  /  they  anfwerd  we 
never  herde  of  fuche  thynges  /  never  the 
leffe  kepe  the  wel  if  the  quene  demaunde 
the  therof  /  that  thou  fay  no  thynge  to 
hyr  /  Whan  the  quene  had  called  them 
/  and  demaunded  them  the  place  where 
our  lord  Ihefu  crifte  had  been  crucefyed/ 
they  wold  never  tell  her  nor  enfygne' 
her  /.  Then  commaunded  fhe  to  brenne^ 
them  alle/.  But  then  they  doubted  and 
were  aferde  /  &  delyvered  ludas  to  hyr 
and  fayd  /  lady  thys  man  is  the  fone  of 
a  prophete  and  of  a  jufle  man  /  and 
knoweth  right  wel  the  lawe   /  &   can 


Inform. 
Burn. 


XXXll 


Cbe  LegenDarp 


More  ado. 


telle    to    you    al    thynge    that    ye    fhal 
demaunde  hym/. 

Thenne  the  quene  lete  al  the  other 
goo,  and  reteyned  ludas  without  mooV- 
Thenne  fhe  fhewed  to  hym  his  life  & 
dethe  &  bade  hym  chefe  whyche  he 
wold.  Shewe  to  me  fayd  fhe  the  place 
named  golgota  where  our  lord  was 
crucefyed  /  by  caufe  and  to  the  end 
that  we  may  fynde  the  crolTe/.  Thenne 
fayd  ludas,  it  is  two  hondred  yere  palfed 
&  more  /  &  I  was  not  thenne  yet  borne. 
Thenne  fayd  to  hym  the  lady  /  by  him 
that  was  crucyfyed  /  I  (hal  make  the 
periiTe  for  hungre/  yf  thou  telle  not  to 
me  the  trouthe. 

Thenne  made  fhe  hym  to  be  cafle  into 
a  drye  pytte  /  and  there  tormented  hym 
by  hungre  /  and  evyl  refle  /  whan  he 
had  been  feuen  dayes  in  that  pytte  / 
thenne  fayd  he  yf  I  myght  be  drawen 
out  /  he  lliold  fay  the  trouthe  /  Thenne 
he  was  drawen  out  /  and  whan  he  came 
to  the  place  /  anone  the  erthe  moevyd 


5)iftorp  of  tbt  Ctofs. 


XXXlll 


and  a  fume  of  grete  fwettnefle  was  felte 
in  fuche  wyfe  that  ludas  fmote  his 
hondes  togyder  for  ioye  /  and  fayd  /  in 
trouthe  Ihefu  crifte  thou  art  the  favyour 
of  the  worlde. 

It  was  fo  that  adryan  the  Emperour 
had  doo  make  in  the  fame  place  where 
the  crofTe  laye  a  temple  of  a  goddefle  by 
caufe  that  all  they  that  come  in  that 
place  (hold  adoure  that  goddefTe/.  But 
the  quene  did  doo  deftroy  the  temple  / 
Thenne  ludas  made  hym  redy  and  began 
to  dygge  /  and  whan  he  came  to  J^J 
paas'  depe  /  he  fonde  three  crolTes  and 
broughte  them  to  the  quene  /  And 
bycaufe  he  knewe  not  whiche  was  the 
crofle  of  our  lord  /  he  leyed  them  in  the 
myddel  of  the  cyte  /  and  abode  the 
demonftraunce  of  god  /  and  aboute  the 
houre  of  none  /  there  was  the  corps  of 
a  yonge  man  brought  to  be  buryed  / 
ludas  reteyned  the  byere  /  and  layed 
upon  hit  one  of  the  crofles  /  and  after 
the  fecond  /  and  whan  he  leyed  on  hit 


Inventy  Paces, 


xxxiv 

Cfie  iLegenDarp 

I 

E'verlajiing.  ' 

the  third  /  anone  the  body  that  was  dede 
came  ageyn  to  lyf/. 

Thenne  cryed  the  devyll  in  the  eyre 
ludas  what  haft  thou  doon  /  thou  haft 
doon   the   contrarye  that   thother  ludas 
dyd/.      For  by  hym  I  have  wonne  many 
fowles  /  and   by  the   I  fhal  lofe  many  / 
by  hym  I  reygned  on  the  peple  /  And 
by  the  I  have  loft  my  royame  /  never 
the  lefte  I  fhal  yelde  to  the  this  bountee/. 
For  I  fhal  fend  one  that  fhal  punyffhe  the  / 
and  that  was  accomplyffhed  by  lulian  the 
apoftata  /  which  tormented  hym  afterward 
whan  he  was  byffhop  of  Iherufalem  /  and 
whan   ludas  herde  hym   he  curfed   the 
devyl  and  fayd    to   hym   /  Ihefu  cryfte 
dampne  the  in  fyre  pardurable'/.     After 
this  ludas  was  baptyzed  and  was  named 
quyryache  */.      And    after    was     made 
byffhop  of  Iherufalem/.     Whan  helayn 
had  the  crofTe  of  Ihefu  crifte  /  and  faw 
fhe  had  not  the  nayles  /  Thenne  he  dyd 

*  Other  accounts   fay  the  CrofTes  were  found  by  Macarius, 
then  Bifhop  of  Jerufalenn. 

©illotp  of  tit  €tois. 


XXXV 


dygge  in  therthe  fo  longe  /  that  he 
founde  them  fhynyng  as  golde/.  thenne 
bare  he  them  to  the  quene  /  and  anone 
as  fhe  fawe  them  fhe  worfhypped  them 
wyth  grete  reverence/. 

Thenne  gafe  faynt  helayn  a  part  of  the 
crofle  to  hir  fone  /  And  that  other  parte 
fhe  lefte  in  Iherufalem  clofyd  in  golde  / 
fylver  and  precious  ftones/. 

And  hyr  fone  bare  the  nayles  to 
themperour  /  And  the  emperour  dyd 
do  fette  them  in  hys  brydel  and  in  hys 
helme  whan  he  wente  to  batayle/.  This 
referreth  Eufebe  whiche  was  byffhop  of 
Cezayr  Y  how  be  it  that  other  fay  other- 
wyfe/.  Now  it  happed  that  lulyan  the 
appoftate  dyd  doo*  flee  quyriache  that 
was  byffhop  of  Iherufalem  /  by  caufe  he 
had  founde  the  croffe  /  for  he  hated 
hit  foo  mooche  /  that  where  fomever  he 
founde  the  croffe  /  he  dyd  hit  to  be 
deflroyed  /  For  whan  he  wente  in  batayle 
ageynfle  them  of  perfe  /  he  fente  and 
commaunded  quyriache  to  make  facrefyfe 


Eufebius, 
Bi/hop  of 
Cefaraa. 

Killed. 


XXXVl 


Cbe  iLegennarp 


Mad  dog. 


to  thydolles  /  and  whan  he  wold  not  doo 
hit  /  he  dyd  do  fmyte  of  his  right  honde 
/  and  fayd  wyth  this  honde  haft  thou 
wryten  many  letters  /  by  whyche  thou 
repellyd  moche  folke  fro  doynge  facrefyfe 
to  our  goddes/. 

Quyriache  fayd  thou  wood  hounde* 
thou  hift  doon  to  me  grete  prouffyte  / 
For  thou  haft  cut  of  the  hande  /  wyth 
whiche  I  have  many  tymes  wreton  to 
the  fynagoges  that  they  fhold  not  byleve 
in  Ihefu  crifte  /  and  now  fythe"*  I  am 
criften  /  thou  haft  taken  from  me  that 
whiche  noyed  me  /  thenne  dyd  lulyan 
do  melte  leed,  and  cafte  it  in  his  mowthe 
/  and  after  dyd  doo  brynge  a  bedde  of 
yron  /  and  made  quyriache  to  be  layed 
and  ftratched  theron  /  and  after  leyed 
under  brennyng  cooles  /  and  threwe 
therein  grece  and  falte  /  for  to  torment 
hym  the  more  /  and  whan  quyriache 
moved  not  /  lulyan  themperour  faid  to 
hym  /  outher  thou  {halt  facrefyfe  (to) 
our   goddes  /  or  thou  fhalt  fay  at   the 


Since. 


^iflorp  of  tjje  Crof0, 


xxxvii 


lefle  thou  art  not  criften/.  And  whan  he 
fawe  he  wolde  not  do  never  neyther  / 
he  dyd  doo  make  a  depe  pytte  ful  of 
ferpentes  and  venemous  beflys  /  and  cafte 
hym  therein  /  &  whan  he  entred  /  anone 
the  ferpentes  were  al  deed/.  Thenne 
lulyan  put  hym  in  a  cawdron  ful  of 
boylyng  oyle  /  and  whan  he  fhold  entre 
in  to  hit  /  he  bleflyd  it  &  fayd  /  Fayre 
lord  torne  thys  bane  to  baptyfm  of 
marterdom  /  Thenne  was  lulyan  moche 
angry  /  and  commaunded  that  he  fhould 
be  ryven  thorough  his  herte  with  a 
fwerde  /  and  in  this  manere  he  fynyfflied 
his  lyff. 

The  vertue  of  the  croiTe  is  declared  to 
us  by  many  miracles  /  For  it  happed 
on  a  tyme  that  one  enchantour  had 
dyfceyved  a  notarye  /  and  brought  hym 
to  a  place  /  where  he  had  affembled  a 
grete  companye  of  devylles/and  promyfed 
to  hym  to  have  muche  rychelTe  /  and 
whan  he  came  there  /  he  faw  one  perfone 
blacke  fyttynge  on  a  grete  chayer  /  And 


Turn  this  evil 


XXXVlll 


C6e  ilegenDarp 


all  aboute  hym  al  ful  of  horyble  people 
and  blacke  whiche  had  fperes  and  fwerdes 
/  Thenne  demaunded  thys  grete  devyll 
of  the  enchantour  /  who  was  thatclerke/ 
thenchantour  fayd  to  hym  /  Syr  he  is 
oures  /  thenne  fayd  the  devyl  to  hym  yf 
thou  wylte  worlhyp  me  and  be  my 
fervaunte  /  and  denye  Ihefu  cryfte  /  thou 
fhalt  fytte  on  my  right  fyde  /  The  clerke 
anone  bleflyd  hym  wyth  the  fygne  of  the 
crofTe  /  and  fayd  that  he  was  the  fervaunte 
of  Ihefu  crifte  /  his  favyour  /  And  anone 
as  he  had  made  the  croffe  /  that  grete 
multitude  of  devylles  vanyffhed  aweye. 
It  happed  that  this  notarye  after  this  on 
a  tyme  en  try  d  with  hys  lord  in  the 
chyrche  of  faynt  fophye  /  &  knelyd  doun 
on  his  knees  to  fore  the  ymage  of  the 
crucyfyxe  /  the  which  crucifyxe  as  it 
femed  loked  moche  openly  and  fharpelye 
on  hym/.  Thenne  his  lord  made  hym 
to  go  aparte  on  another  fyde  /  and 
alleweye  the  crucifixe  torned  his  eyen 
toward  hym/.     Thenne  he  made  hym 


j^iaorp  of  tfie  Crofs* 


xxxix 


goo  on  the  lefte  fyde  /  and  yet  the 
crucifixe  loked  on  hym  /  Thenne  was 
the  lord  moche  admerveyled/and  charged 
hym  &  commaunded  hym  that  he  fhold 
telle  hym  wherof  he  had  fo  deferved  that 
the  crucifyxe  fo  behelde  and  loked  on 
hym  /  Thenne  fayde  the  notarye  that  he 
coude  not  remembre  hym  of  no  good 
thynge  that  he  had  doon  /  faufe  that  one 
tyme  he  wold  not  renye  nor  forfake  the 
crucifixe  tofore  the  devyl/. 

Thenne  late  us  fo  blefle  us  with  the 
fygne  of  the  blefiyd  crofle  that  we  may 
therby  be  kepte  fro  the  power  of  our 
ghooftly  and  dedely  enemye  the  devyl  / 
and  by  the  glorious  paflyon  that  our 
faveour  Ihefu  cryft  fuffred  on  the  crofTe 
after  this  lyf  we  may  come  to  his 
everlaftyng  blyffe  amen/. 

Thus  endeth  thynvencion  of  the  holy 
crofTe. 


xl 


TTTTI 


2)ere  eblo^i)et^)  ti^  (gjaltaoon 
of  tl^  Iplp  <S:tToiTe 


I^mts  of  tlje  Crofs. 


xli 


Exaltation  of  the  holy  Croffe'  is  fayd/ 
bycaufe  that  on  this  daye  the  hooly  crolTe 
&  faythe  were  gretely  enhaunced/.  And 
it  is  to  be  underftonden  that  tofore  the 
paflion  of  our  lord  Ihefu  cryfte  /  the 
tree  of  the  crofTe  was  a  tree  of  fylthe  / 
For  the  crofTes  were  made  of  vyle  trees, 
&  of  trees  without  fruyte  /  For  al  that 
was  planted  on  the  Mount  of  Calvarye 
bare  no  fruyt.  It  was  a  fowle  place  / 
for  hit  was  the  place  of  torment  of  thevys/ 
It  was  derke  /  for  it  was  in  a  derke  place 
and  without  any  beaute  /  It  was  the  tree 
of  deth  /  for  men  were  put  there  to 
dethe  /  It  was  alfo  the  tree  of  ftenche  / 
for  it  was  planted  amonge  the  caroynes^ 
&  after  the  paflyon  the  Crofle  was  moche 
enhaunced  /  For  the  Vylte^  was  tranf- 
ported  into  precioufyte  /  Of  the  whiche 
the  bleffyd  faynt  Andrewe  fayth  /  O 
precious  holy  CrofTe  god  fave  the  /  his 
bareynes  was  torned  into  fruyte  /  as  it  is 
fayd  in  the  Cantyques  /  I  fhall  afcende 
up  in  to  a  palme  tree  /  et  cetera  /  His 


T/ie  Roman 
and  Englijh 
Churches 
celebrate  this 
Fejii'val  on 
February  14. 


Carrion. 


ViUnefs. 


xlii 


C6e  LeffenDatp 


Refourced  or 
repUniJhed. 


Chofroes  II., 

'who  reigned  in 

tbe/eventh 

Century, 


ignobylyte  or  unworthynes  was  tourned 
into  fublymyte  and  heyght  /  The  Crofle 
that  was  tormente  of  thevys  is  now  born 
in  the  front  of  themperours  /  his  derkenes 
is  torned  into  lyght  and  clerenefTe/ wherof 
Chryfoflom  fayth  the  Crofle  and  the 
Woundes  fhall  be  more  fhynyng  than 
the  rayes  of  the  Sonne  at  the  jugement/ 
his  deth  is  converted  into  perdurabylyte  of 
lyf  /  whereof  it  is  fayd  in  the  preface  / 
that  fro  hens  the  lyf  refourded'  /and  the 
ftenche  is  torned  into  fwetenes  /  canti- 
corum  /.  This  exaltacion  of  the  hooly 
crofl^e  is  folempnyfed  and  halowed 
folempnly  of  the  Chirche  /  For  the 
faythe  is  in  hit  moche  enhaunced  /. 

For  the  yere  of  oure  lord  five  honderd 
&  J«  /  our  lord  fuffred  his  people  moche 
to  be  tormentyd  by  the  cruelte  of  the 
paynyms  /  And  Cofdroe^  Kynge  of  the 
Perceens  fubdued  to  his  empyre  all  the 
Royaumes  of  the  world  /  And  he  cam 
into  Iherufalem  and  was  aferd  and  a 
dred    of   the    fepulcre    of   our   lord  & 


/ 


©ifiorg  of  tbe  Croftt.  xliii 

retorned  /  but  he  bare  with  hym  the  parte 
of  the  hooly  Croffe  /  that  faynte  Helene 
had  left  ther.  And  then  he  wold  be 
worfhiped  of  alle  the  peple  /  as  a  god  / 
6c  dyd  do  make  a  tour  of  gold  and  of 
fylver  wherein  precious  ftones  fhone  / 
and  made  therein  the  ymages  of  the 
fonne  and  of  the  mone  and  of  the  fterres 
/  and  made  that  by  fubtyle  conduytes 
water  to  be  hydde  /  and  to  come  doune 
in  the  maner  of  rayne  /  And  in  the  lafte 
ftage  he  made  horfes  to  draw  charyotes 
round  aboute  lyke  as  they  had  mevyd 
the  toure  /  and  made  it  to  feme  as 
it  had  thondred  /  and  delyvered  his 
Royaume  to  his  fone.  And  thus  this 
curfyd  man  abode  in  this  Temple  /  and 
dyd  doo  fette  the  croiTe  of  our  lord  by 
hym  and  commaunded  that  he  {hold  be 
callyd  god  of  alle  the  peple  /  And  as  it  is 
redde  in  libro  de  mitrali*  officio  the  faid 
Cofdroe  refydent  in  his  trone  as  a  fader  / 

'i-  The  book  of  the  office  of  Mithras  or  Mithra,  the  Sun, 
worlhipped  by  the  Perfians. 


xliv 


Cl)e  Legennarp 


fette  the  tree  of  the  CrofTe  on  his  ryght 
fyde  in  flede  of  the  fonne  /  and  a  cock 
in  the  lyft  fyde  in  ftede  of  the  hooly 
ghoofl  /  &  commaunded  /  that  he  fhold 
be  called  fader  /.  And  then  Heracle* 
themperour  affembled  a  grete  hooft  / 
and  cam  for  to  fyght  wyth  the  fonne  of 
Cofdroe  by  the  ryver  of  danubie  /  & 
thenne  hit  pleafyd  to  eyther  prynce  / 
that  eche  of  them  fhold  fyght  one 
ageynfte  that  other  upon  the  brydge  / 
&  he  that  fhold  vaynquyffhe  &  over- 
come his  adverfarye  fholde  be  prynce  of 
thempyre  withoute  hurtyng  eyther  of 
bothe  hostes  /  &  fo  hit  was  ordeyned  & 
fworn  /  &  that  who  fomever  fhold  helpe 
his  prynce  fhold  have  forthwith  his 
legges  &  armes  cut  of  /  &  to  be  plonged 
/  &  cafl  in  to  the  Ryver. 

And  then  Heracle  commaunded  hym 
all  to  god  and  to  the  hooly  crofTe  wyth 
all  the  devocion   that  he  myght.     And 

'»'•  Heraclius,  Emperor  of  the  Eaft,  who  from  a.d.  622  to 
627  fought  Chofroes  II.,  defeated  him,  and  concluded  peace. 


^iftorp  of  tbc  Ctof0» 


xlv 


thenne  they  fought  longe  /  And  at  the 
lad  our  lord  gaf  the  vy(5lory  to  Heracle 
and  fubdued  hym  to  his  empyre  /  The 
hoofl  that  was  contrary  /  and  alle  the 
peple  of  Cofdroe  obeyed  them  to  the 
Cryften  faythe  /  and  receyved  the  hooly 
baptyfme  /  And  Cofdroe  knew  not  the 
end  of  the  batayll  /  For  he  was  adoured 
and  worfhiped  of  alle  the  peple  as  a  god 
/  fo  that  no  man  durft  fay  nay  to  him  / 
And  thenne  Heracle  came  to  hym  /  and 
fonde  hym  fyttinge  in  his  fyege'  of 
golde  /  and  fayd  to  hym  /  For  as  moche 
as  after  the  manere  thou  haft  honoured 
the  Tree  of  the  CrofTe  /  yf  thou  wyld 
receyve  baptym  and  the  faythe  of  Ihefu 
Cryft  /  I  (hal  gete  it  to  the  /  and  yet  fhalt 
thow  holde  thy  crowne  and  Royamme 
with  lytel  hoftages  /  And  I  fhall  lete  the 
have  thy  lyf  /  and  yf  thou  wylt  not  /  I 
fhall  flee  the  wyth  my  fwerde  /  and 
fhalle  fmyte  of  thyne  heed  /  and  whanne 
he  wold  not  accorde  therto  /  he  did  anon 
do  fmyte  of  his  hede  /  and  commaunded 


Throne , or featt 
French,  siige. 


xlvi 


C6e  iLegenDatp 


that  he  fhold  be  buryed  /  by  caufe  he 
had  be(en)  a  Kynge  /.  And  he  fonde 
with  hym  one  his  fone  of  the  age  of  ten 
yere  /  whome  he  dyd  doo  baptyfe  and 
lyft  hym  fro  the  fonte  /  and  left  to  hym 
the  Royaume  of  his  fader  /  and  then  he 
dyd  doo  breke  that  Toure  /  And  gaf  the 
fylver  to  them  of  his  hoofte  /  and  gaf 
the  gold  and  precious  ftones  for  to  re- 
payre  the  chirches  that  the  tyraunt  had 
deftroyed  /  and  tooke  the  hoole  croiTe  / 
and  brought  it  ageyne  to  lerufalem  /  and 
as  he  defcended  from  the  mount  of 
Olyvete  /  and  wold  have  entryd  by  the 
gate  by  whiche  our  favyour  wente  to  his 
paflyon  on  horfbacke  adourned  as  a  Kynge 
/  fodenly  the  ftones  of  the  gates  de- 
fcended /  and  ioyned  them  togyder  in 
the  gate  like  a  wall  &  all  the  peple  was 
AiioHijhed,  abafhed'  /  and  thenne  the  Aungel  of 
cure  lord  appyeryd  upon  the  gate  hold- 
yng  the  ligne  of  the  figne  {sic)  of  the 
Crofle  in  his  honde  /  and  fayd  /  Whanne 
the  Kynge  of  heven  went  to  his  paflion 


©ifiotp  of  fte  Ctof0, 


xlvii 


by  this  gate  /  he  was  not  arayed  like  a 
Kynge  /  ne  on  horfbake  /  but  cam 
humbly  upon  an  afle  /  in  fhewynge 
thexample  of  humylite  which  he  left  to 
them  that  honoure  hym.  And  when 
this  was  fayd  /  he  departed  and  vanyffhed 
aweye  /  Thenne  th'emperour  took  of  his 
hofen  and  fhone'  himfelf  in  wepynge  / 
and  defpollyed  hymfelfe  of  alle  his  clothes 
in  to  his  fherte  /  and  tooke  the  croiTe  of 
oure  lord  /  and  bare  it  moche  humbly 
into  the  gate  /  and  anone  the  hardnes  of 
the  ilones  felte  the  celeftyalle  commaund- 
ement  /  and  remeved  anone  /  and  opened 
and  gaf  entree  unto  them  that  entred  / 
Thenne  the  fweete  odour  that  was  felt 
that  day  whanne  the  hooly  CroiTe  was 
taken  fro  the  Toure  of  Cofdroe  /  and 
was  brought  ageyne  to  Iherufalem  fro  fo 
ferre  countre  /  and  fo  grete  fpace  of 
londe  retourned  in  to  Iherufalem  in  that 
moment  /  and  replenyffhed  it  with  al 
fwetnes  /  Thenne  the  ryght  devoute 
Kyng  beganne  to  faye  the  prayfynges  of 


Shoen — Aees. 


xlviii 


Clje  LegenDati? 


the  Crofle  in  this  wyfe  /  O  Crux  fplen- 
dydior  /  et  cetera  /  O  CrofTe  more 
fhynynge  than  alle  the  Sterres  /  honoured 
of  the  world  /  right  holy  /  and  moche 
amyable  to  alle  men  /  whiche  only  were 
worthy  to  here  the  raunfon  of  the  world 
Swete  tree  /  Swete  nayles  /  Swete  yron  / 
Swete  fpere  berynge  the  fwete  burthens 
/  Save  thou  this  prefent  company  /  that 
is  this  daye  aflembled  in  thy  lawe  and 
prayfynges  /.  And  thus  was  the  pre- 
cious tree  of  the  CroiTe  re  eftablyffhed  in 
his  place  /and  the  auncient  myracles 
renewed  /.  For  a  dede  man  was  reyfed 
to  lyf  /  and  foure  men  taken  with  the 
palfey  were  cured  and  heled  /  J  lepres 
were  made  clene  /  and  fyften  blynde 
receyved  theyr  fyghte  ageyn  /  Devylles 
were  put  out  of  men  /  and  moche  peple 
/  and  many  /  were  delyvered  of  dyverfe 
fekenes  and  maladyes  /.  Thenne  them- 
perour  dyd  doo  repayre  the  Chirches  / 
and  gaf  to  them  grete  geftes  /  And  after 
retorned  home  to  his  Empyre  /  And  hit 


I^iiiorp  of  tbe  Crofs.  xlix 

is  faid  in  the  Cronycles  that  this  was 
done  otherwife  /  For  they  fay  that 
whanne  Cofdroe  hadde  taken  many 
Royammes  /  he  took  Iherufalem  /  and 
Zacharye  the  patriarke  /  and  bare  aweye 
the  tree  of  the  CrofTe  /  And  as  Heraclc 
wold  make  pees  with  hym  /  the  Kyng 
Cofdroe  fwore  a  grete  othe  /  that  he  wold 
never  make  pees  with  Cryften  men  and 
Romayns  /  yf  they  denyed  not  hym  that 
was  crucyfyed  /  and  adoured  the  fonne  /. 
And  thenne  Heracle  /  whiche  was  armed 
wythe  faythe  /  brought  his  hoofte  ageynft 
hym  /  and  deftroyed  and  wafted  the 
Perfyens  with  many  batayles  that  he 
made  to  them  /  and  made  Cofdroe  to 
flee  unto  the  Cyte  of  thelyfonte  /.  And 
atte  the  lafte  Cofdroe  hadde  the  flyxe  in 
his  bely  /  And  wolde  therefore  crowne 
his  fone  Kynge  /  which  was  named 
Mendafa  /.  And  whenne  Syroys  his 
oldeft  fone  herde  thereof  he  made  alyance 
with  Heracle  /  And  purfewed  his  fader 
with  his  noble  peple  /  and  fet  hym  in 


Cbe  iLegenDarp 


bondes  /  And  fufteyned  him  with  breede 
of  trybulacion  /  and  with  water  of 
anguyffhe  /  And  atte  laft  he  made  to 
fhote  arowes  at  him  bycaufe  he  wold  not 
bileve  in  god  6c  fo  deyde  /  &  after  this 
thynge  he  fente  to  Heracle  the  patriarke 
the  tree  of  the  CrofTe  and  all  the  pry- 
foners  /  And  Heracle  bare  into  Iherufa- 
lem  the  precious  tree  of  the  CrolTe  /. 
And  thus  it  is  redde  in  many  Cronycles 
alfo/.  Sybyle  fayth  thus  of  the  tre  of  the 
CrolTe  /  that  the  blelTyd  tree  of  the 
CroiTe  was  thre  tymes  with  the  paynyms 
/  as  it  is  fayd  in  thyftorie  trypertyte  O 
thryfe  blellyd  tree  on  whiche  god  was 
ftratched  /  This  peradventure  is  fayd  for 
the  lyf  of  Nature  /  of  grace  /  and  of 
glorye  /  which  cam  of  the  crofle  /.  At 
Conftantynople  a  lewe  entyred  in  to  the 
chirche  of  feynt  fophye  /  and  confydered 
that  he  was  there  allone  /  and  fawe  an 
ymage  of  Ihefu  cryfte  /  and  tooke  his 
fwerde  and  fmote  thymage  in  the  throte 
/  and  anone  the  bloode  guyffhed  oute  / 


i&iOotp  of  tbe  Crofs. 


U 


and  fprange  in  the  face  and  on  the  hide 

of  the  lewe  /  And  he  thenne  was  aferd 

and  took  thymage  /  and  cait  it  into  a 

pytte  /  and  anone  fledde  awey  /.  And  it 

happed  that  a  Cryften  man  mett  hym  / 

and  fawe   hym  al  blody  /  and   fayd    to 

hym  /  fro  whens  comefl   thou  /  thou 

haft  flayne  foume  man  /  And  he  fayd  I 

have  not  /  the  cryften  man  fayd  Veryly 

thou  has  commyfed  fomme  homycyde  / 

for  thou   art   all  befprongen'   with    the       BefprinkUd. 

blood.     And  the  J  ewe  faid  /  Veryly  the 

god   of  Cryften  men  is   grete   and  the 

faythe  of  hym  is  ferme  and  approved  in 

all  thynges  /  I  have  fmyten  no  man  / 

but  I    have  fmyten    thymage    of  Ihefu 

Cryfte  /  and  anone  yiTued  blood  of  his 

throte  /.    And  thenne  the  Jewe  brought 

the  Cryften  man  to  the  pytte  /  and  then 

they   drewe   oute    that   hooly  ymage  /. 

And  yet  is  fene  on  this  daye  the  wounde 

in  the  throte  of  thymage  /  And  the  lewe 

anone   by  cam   a  good   Cryften  man,  & 

was  baptyfed  /  In  Syre  in  the  cyte   of 


Hi 


Cfte  LcgenDarp 


baruth  there  was  a  criften  man  /  which 
had  hyred  an  hous  for  a  yere  /  &  he  had 
fet  thymage  of  the  crucifixe  by  his  bedde 
to  whiche  he  made  dayly  his  prayers  and 
faid  his  devocions  /  &  at  the  yeres  ende 
he  remeved  and  tooke  another  hous  /  & 
forgate  &  lefte  thymage  behynde  hym  / 
and  it  happed  that  a  lewe  hyred  that 
fame  hows  /  &  on  a  daye  he  had  another 
lewe  one  of  his  neyghbours  to  dyne  /  & 
as  they  were  at  mete  it  happed  hym  that 
was  boden'  in  lookyng  on  the  walle  to 
elpye  this  ymage  whiche  was  fyxed  to 
the  walle  and  beganne  to  grenne  at  it 
for  defpyte  /  and  ageynft  hym  that  bad 
hym  /  &  alfo  thretned  &  menaced  hym 
bycaufe  he  durft  kepe  in  his  hous 
thymage  of  Ihefu  of  nazareth  /  &  that 
other  lewe  fware  as  moche  as  he  myght  / 
that  he  had  never  fene  it  /  ne  knewe 
not  that  it  was  there  /  &  thenne  the 
lewe  fayned  as  he  had  been  peafyd  .  / 
&  after  went  flrayt  to  the  prynce  of  the 
lewes   /  &   accufed  that    lewe    of  that 


Invited. 


Pacified, 
appeafed. 


IJjiflorp  of  tbe  Crofs. 


liii 


whiche  he  hadde  fene  in  his  hous  / 
thenne  the  lewes  aflembleden  &  cam  to 
the  hous  of  hym  /  &  fawe  thymage  of 
Ihefu  Cryft  /  and  they  took  that  lewe 
and  bete  hym  /  &  did  to  hym  many 
iniuryes  /  &  cafte  hym  out  half  dede  of 
their  fynagoge  /  &  anone  they  defowled 
thymage  with  their  feet  /  &  renewed  in 
it  all  the  tormentes  of  the  paflion  of  oure 
lorde  /  &  and  when  they  perced  his  fyde 
with  the  fpere  /  blood  and  water  yffued 
haboundauntly  /  in  fo  moche  that  they 
fylled  a  veffel  /  whiche  they  fet  ther- 
under  /  And  thenne  the  lewes  were 
abaffhhed  &  bare  this  blood  in  to  theyr 
fynagoge  &  and  alle  the  feke  men  and 
malades  that  were  enoynted  therwyth  / 
were  anone  guaryffhed  &  made  hool/ 
&  thenne  the  lewes  told  &  recounted  al 
this  thynge  by  ordre  to  the  bifhop  of 
the  countre  /  &  alle  they  with  one  wyll 
receyved  baptyfm  in  the  fay  the  of  Ihefu 
Cryft  /  &  the  biffhop  putt  the  blood  in 
ampulles'  of  Cryftalle  &  of  glas  for  to 


Ampulla^ 
bottles  or  Aajks. 


liv 


Cfje  LcgentJarp 


be  kepte  /  &  thenne  he  called  /  the 
Cryften  man  that  had  lefte  it  in  the  hows 
/  &  enquyred  of  hym  /  who  had  made 
fo  fayr  an  ymage  /  &  he  faid  that  Nycho- 
demus  had  made  it  /  And  when  he 
deyde  /  he  lefte  it  to  gamalyel  /  And 
Gamalyel  to  Zachee  and  Zachee  to 
laques  /  and  laques  to  Symon  /  and 
hadde  ben  thus  in  lerufalem  unto  the 
deftrud:ion  of  the  Cyte  /  and  fro  thennes 
hit  was  borne  in  to  the  Royamme  of 
Agryppe  of  Cryften  men  /  and  fro 
thennes  hit  was  brought  ageyne  into  my 
countreye  /  &  it  was  left  to  me  by  my 
parentes  by  rightful  herytage  /  &  this 
was  done  in  y^  yere  of  our  lord  feven 
honderd  and  fifty  /  and  thenne  alle  the 
Confecrated.  lewes  halowed'  their  fynagogues  in  to 
chirches  and  therof  cometh  the  cuftoume 
that  Chirches  ben  hallowed  /  For  tofore 
that  tyme  the  aultres  were  but  halowed 
only  /  and  for  this  myracle  the  chirche 
hath  ordeyned  /  that  the  fyfte  Kalendar 
of  december  /  or  as  it  is  redde  in  another 


5)i0otp  of  ttz  CtOf0»  Iv 


place  /  the  fyfthe  ydus  of  Novembre 
fhold  be  the  memorye  of  the  pallyon  of 
oure  lord  /  wherfor  at  Rome  the  chirche 
is  halowed  in  thonoure  of  our  favyour 
whereas  is  kepte  an  ampulla  with  the 
fame  blood  /  And  there  a  folempne  fefte 
is  kepte  and  done  /  and  there  is  proved 
the  ryght  grete  vertue  of  the  crolTe  unto 
the  paynyms  and  to  the  mylbylevyd  men 
in  alle  thynges  /. 

And  faynt  Gregory  recordeth  in  the 
thirdde  booke  of  his  dyalogues  /  that 
whanne  andrewe  Biffhop  of  the  Cyte  of 
Fundane  fuffred  an  holy  noune  to  dwelle 
with  him  /  the  fende'  thenemy  beganne  *  /•;>»</. 
temprynte  in  his  herte  the  beaulte  of  her 
/  in  fuch  wife  /  that  he  thought  in  hys 
bedde  wycked  and  curfyd  thynges  /  and 
on  a  daye  a  lewe  cam  to  Rome  /  and 
whanne  he  fawe  /  that  the  day  fayled  / 
and  myghte  fynde  no  lodgynge  /  he 
wente  that  nyght  /  and  abode  in  the 
Temple  of  appolyn  /.  And  bycaufe  he 
doubted  of  the  facrylege  of  the  place  / 


Ivi 


CJje  LegenDatp 


P<nver, 


Each  or  e-very 
one. 


how  be  hit  /  that  he  hadde  no  faythe  in 
the  CrolTe  /  yet  he  markyd  and  gar- 
nyffhed  hym  wyth  the  figne  of  the 
Crofle  /  then  at  mydnyght  whan  he 
awoke  /  he  fawe  a  companye  of  evylle 
fprytes  /  whiche  went  to  fore  one  /  like 
as  he  hadde  fomme  audloryte  puyflance' 
above  thother  by  fubiedtion  /  and  thenne 
he  fawe  hym  fytte  in  the  myddes  among 
the  others  /  and  beganne  to  enquyre  the 
caufes  and  dedes  of  every che''  of  thefe 
evylle  fprytes  /  whyche  obeyed  hym  / 
and  he  wold  knowe  /  what  evylle 
everyche  had  doo  /  But  Gregory  paflyth 
the  maner  of  this  vyfyon  /  bycaufe  of 
fhortnes  /  But  we  fynde  femblable  in  the 
lyf  of  faders  /  That  as  a  man  entryd  in  a 
Temple  of  thydolles  /  he  fawe  the  devylle 
fyttynge  /  and  all  his  meyny^  aboute 
hym.  And  one  of  thefe  wycked  /  fprytes 
cam  /  and  adouryd  hym  /  and  he  de- 
maunded  of  hym  /  Fro  whens  comeft 
thow  /  and  he  fayd  /  I  have  ben  in  fuch 
a   provynce  /  and    have    moeved    grete 


Attendants. 


^ifiotp  of  tbe  Crof0, 


Ivii 


warres  /  and    made    many    trybulacions 
and  have  fhedde  moche  blood  /  and  am 
come  to  telle  it  to  the  /  and  Sathan  fayd 
to  hym  /  in  what  tyme  hath  thow  done 
this  /  and  he  fayd  in  thyrtty  dayes  and 
Sathan  fayd  /  why   haft   thow    be   foo 
longe  there  aboutes  /  and  fayd  to  them 
that  ftode  by  hym  /  goo  ye  and  bete  hym 
/  and   all  to  laffhe   hym  /  Thenne  cam 
the  fecond  and  worffhiped  hym  /  &  fayde 
Syre  I  have  ben  in  the  fee  /  and  have 
moeved    grete  wyndes    and   tormentes  / 
&  drowned  many  fhippes  /  &  flayn  many 
men  /  and  Sathan  fayde  how  longe  haft 
thow  ben  aboute  thys  /  &  he  fayd  Jjit 
dayes  /  &  Sathan  fayd  haft  thou  done  no 
more  in  this  tyme  /  &  commanded  that 
he  ftiold  be  beten  /  and  the  third  cam  / 
&  faid  /  I  have  ben  in  a  Cyte  &  have 
mevyd  ftryves  and  debate  in  a  weddynge 
/  and  have  ftied  moche  blood  /  &  have 
flayne  the  hoft)ond  /  &  am  come  to  telle 
the  /  &  fathan  fayd  /  in  what  time  haft 
thou  done  this  /  &  he  faid  in  ten  dayes  / 


Iviii 


C|)e  legennarp 


Drenv. 


Jeft. 


&  he  fayd  haft  thou  done  no  more  in 
that  time  /  &  commanded  them  that 
were  aboute  hym  to  bete  hym  alfo  / 
Thenne  cam  the  fourth  &  fayd  /  I  have 
ben  in  the  wyldernefs  fourty  yere  /  and 
have  laboured  aboute  a  monke  /  & 
unnethe  at  the  lafte  I  have  throwen  & 
made  hym  falle  in  the  fynne  of  the 
fleffhe  /  &  when  fatan  herd  that  /  he 
aroos  fro  his  fete  /  &  kyffed  hym  /  & 
tooke  hys  crowne  of  his  hede  /  &  fet  it 
on  his  hede  /  &  made  hym  to  fytte  with 
hym  /  &  fayde  /  thou  haft  done  a  grete 
thynge  /  &  haft  laboured  more  /  than 
all  thother  /  and  this  may  be  the  maner 
of  the  vyfyon  /  that  faynt  gregorye  leveth 
/  whan  eche  had  fayd  /  one  fterte  up  in 
the  myddle  of  them  alle  /  &  feyd  he 
hadde  mevid  Andre  we  ageynfte  the 
name  /  &  had  mevyd  the  fourth  part  of 
his  fleftie  agenft  her  in  temptacion  /  & 
therto  /  y'  yefterday  he  drough'  fo  moche 
his  mynde  on  her  /  that  in  the  hour  of 
evenfonge  he   gaf  to  her  in  lapping^  a 


lj)iliorp  of  t{)e  Crof0. 


lix 


buffe'  /  &  feid  pleynly  y'  fhe  muft  here        '  ki/s. 

it  that  he  wold  fynne  with  her  /  thenne 

the   mayfter  commanded   hym   that   he 

fhold  perform  y'  he  had    begonne  /  & 

for  to  make  hym  to  fynne  he  fhold  have 

a   fyngular  Vycflory   and   reward  among 

alle  the  other  /.  And  thenne  commaunded 

he  that  they  fhold  goo  loke  who   that 

was  that  laye  in  the  Temple  /  And  they 

wente  /  &  loked  /  And  anone  they  were 

ware  /  that   he   was   marked  with  the 

figne   of  the   crofTe  /  And  they  levynge 

aferd  efcaped  /  and  fayd  /  veryly  this  is 

an    empty   veilel  /  alas   /  alas  /  he    is 

marked  /.  And  with^  thus  wys  alle  the       'in  this 'wi/e. 

company   of  the    wykked    fprytes    van- 

yflhed  awaye  /  And  thenne  the  lewe  al 

amoevyd  cam  to  the  biffhop  /  and  told 

to  hym  all  by  ordere  what  was  happend  / 

And  whan  the  biffhoppe  herd  this  /  he 

wept   ftrongly  /  and   made  to  voyde  all 

the   wymmen  oute   of  his  hows  /  And 

thenne  he  baptyfed  the  lewe. 

Seynt     Gregory     reherceth      in     his 


Ix 


C6e  LegenDarp 


dyalogues    that   a   nonne  entryd  into  a 
gardyne  /  and  fawe  a  letufe  /  and  coveyted 
that  /  and  forgate   to   make  the  figne  of 
Bit.  the  CrolTe  /  and  bote'   it  glotonoufly  / 

And  anone  fylle  doune  and  was  ravyfihed 
of  a  devylle  /  And  ther  cam  to  her  faint 
Equycyon*  /  And  the  devylle  beganne  to 
crye  and  to  faye  /  What  have  I  doo  /  I 
fatte  uppon  a  lettufe  /  and  fhe  cam  /  and 
bote  me  /  and  anone  the  devylle  yffued 
oute  by  the  commaundement  of  the  holy 
man  of  god  /.  It  is  redde  in  thyftorye 
Scolaftyke  /  that  the  paynyms  had  peyn- 
ted  on  a  v^alle  the  armes  of  Serapis  / 
And  Theodoiyen  dide  doo  putt  them 
oute  /  and  made  to  be  paynted  in  the 
fame  place  the  figne  of  the  CrofTe  /  And 
when  the  paynims  &  prieftes  of  thydolles 
fawe  that  /  anone  they  dyde  them  to  be 
baptyfed  /  fayenge  /  that  it  was  gyven 
them    to    underflonde   of  their   olders  / 


*  St.  Equitius  was  a  hermit,  and  looked  after  the  welfare 
of  other  hermits  and  monks.  He  took  a  fpecial  intereft  in  a 
convent  of  young  virgins  ;  died  about  a.d.  540. 


lJ)i(}orp  of  tfie  Crofs.  Ixi 


that  thofe  armes  fhold  endure  tyll  /  that 
fuche  a  figne  were  made  then  /  in 
whiche  were  lyf  /  And  they  have  a  lettre 
/  of  whiche  they  ufe  /  y'  they  calle  holy 
/  &  had  a  forme  that  they  faid  it  expofed 
and  fignyfyed  lyf  perdurable. 

Thus  endeth  the  exaltacion  of  the 
holy  Crofle. 

Having  read  thefe  extrafts  from  the 
Golden  Legend,  we  (hall  be  able  to 
underftand  the  accompanying  illuftra- 
tions,  which  repfefent  fome  frefcos  of 
the  fifteenth  century,  which  formerly 
adorned  the  walls  of  the  /  Chapel  of  the 
Gild  of  the  Holy  Crofs,  at  Stratford-upon- 
Avon;  which  ftands  clofe  by  New  Place, 
Shakefpeare's  houfe.  Thefe  frefcos,  alas! 
no  longer  exift,  for,  in  1804,  the  Chapel 
underwent  confiderable  repair,  during 
which,  under  the  whitewafh,  were  dif- 
covered  traces  of  paint,  and  thefe,  being 
fcraped,  a  feries  illuftrating  the  legend  of 
the    Crofs    was    found   in   the    chancel. 


Ixii 


Cbe  Hegennarp 


which  was  built  in  1450.  In  other 
parts  of  the  Chapel  were  found  repre- 
fentations  of  the  RefTurediion,  and  the 
day  of  Judgment,  St.  George  and  the 
Dragon,  and  the  death  of  St.  Thomas  a 
Becket,  befides  others. 

Luckily,  a  gentleman  from  London,  a 
Mr.  Fifher,  was  then  ftaying  at  Stratford- 
on-Avon,  and  he  drew,  and  painted  them 
— afterwards,  in  1807,  publilhing  them 
— and  it  is  from  his  fketches  that  thefe 
illuftrations  are  taken.  The  barbarians 
of  Stratford  hacked  the  plafter  on  which 
the  Holy  Crofs  feries  was  painted  to  bits, 
and  whitewashed  all  the  other  paintings. 
It  is  prefumed  they  ftill  exifl:,  for,  when 
the  Chapel  was  thoroughly  reftored  in 
1835,  traces  of  the  other  pictures  were 
vifible  under  the  whitewafh. 

Thefe  pictures  of  the  Invention,  and 
Exaltation,  of  the  Holy  Crofs  are  ef- 
pecially  interefting,  not  only  on  account 
of  their  age  and  artiftic  merit,  but  from 
the  fa6l  that  they  are  of  Englifh  work. 


f^ifiorp  of  tf)e  Crofs. 

Ixiii 

and  fhow  the  Englifh  idea  of  treating 

the  fubjedl.     I  have  reproduced  them  all 

but  two;  one,  the  fight  on  the  bridge 

over  the  Danube  between  Heraclius  and 

the    fon    of    Chofroes,    and    the    other 

reprefenting  Heraclius  fmiting  off  Chof- 

roes' head. 

^A 

Ixiv 


jft igwj tta  SpBsSlflaom  ■  i  m- Uf nit  ■■ ; fohma obi Iimi" 
in    ■  bthia  ■,  v .     - .._    ..;      ,t '(■  7 


8)il}otp  of  tfie  Crof0, 


Ixv 


Plate  A  reprefents  the  viiit  of  the 
Queen  of  Sheba  to  Solomon.  Her  name 
was  Balkis,  and,  in  her  legendary  hiftory, 
it  is  reported  that  Solomon,  having  heard 
of  her  riches  and  power,  fent  her  a 
peremptory  meflage  to  fubmit  herfelf  to 
his  rule.  She,  dreading  war  with  fo 
potent  a  fovereign,  fent  an  embafly  to 
try  and  find  out  whether  Solomon  was 
as  wife  as  he  was  reprefented  to  be. 
With  this  objed:  (he  drelTed  five  hundred 
boys  as  girls,  and  a  like  number  of  girls 
as  boys,  and,  among  other  prefents,  fent 
a  pearl,  a  diamond  cut  through  in 
zigzags,  and  a  cryftal  box;  and  fhe 
fhould  be  able  to  judge  of  his  wifdom 
and  power,  if  he  could  tell  the  boys  from 
the  girls,  pierce  the  pearl,  thread  the 
diamond,  and  fill  the  goblet  with  water 
that  came  neither  from  the  earth  nor 
the  fky. 

Needlefs  to  fay,  Solomon  paffed  through 
the  ordeal  triumphantly.  He  ordered 
filver  bafins  to  be  brought,  fo  that  the 


Ixvi 


C6e  LegenDatp 


ambaffadors'  fuite  might  wafh  their  hands 
after  their  long  journey,  and  the  boys 
were  eafily  diftinguifhed  from  the  girls,  for 
they  dipped  their  hands  only  in  the  water, 
whilft  the  girls  tucked  up  their  fleeves 
and  wafhed  their  arms  as  well  as  their 
hands.  Then  he  opened  the  box  con- 
taining the  pearl,  diamond,  and  goblet, 
and,  taking  out  the  pearl,  he  applied  his 
magic  ftone,  Samur,  or  Schamir,  which 
a  raven  had  brought  him,  and  which 
had  the  power  of  cleaving  anything,  and 
lo !  the  pearl  was  pierced ;  then  he 
examined  the  diamond,  which  was  fo 
pierced  that  no  thread  could  be  pafTed 
through  it;  fo  he  took  a  worm,  and 
having  placed  a  piece  of  filk  in  its  mouth, 
it  wriggled  through,  and  the  diamond 
was  threaded.  The  next  tafk  was  to  fill 
the  goblet,  which  he  gave  to  a  negro 
flave,  and  bade  him  mount  a  wild  horfe 
and  gallop  it  till  it  ftreamed  with  fweat, 
and  then  to  fill  the  goblet  with  it,  thus 
fulfilling    the    impofed    conditions.     He 


^iliotp  Of  t{)e  Crof0.  Ixvii 


then  gave  back  thefe  prefents  to  the 
ambafladors,  who  fpeedily  returned  to 
Queen  Balkis.  She  at  once  faw  that  it 
would  be  ufelefs  to  oppofe  the  powerful 
will  of  Solomon,  and  immediately  fet  out 
on  her  journey  to  that  monarch. 

It  is  here  that  her  connection  with  the 
holy  Crofs  comes  in,  for  its  wood,  which 
Solomon  had  cut  down  in  order  to 
incorporate  it  into  his  Temple,  and 
which  had  the  inconvenient  property  of 
fitting  in  nowhere,  being  either  too  long 
or  too  fhort  for  any  purpofe,  was  in 
confequence  thrown  afide,  and  ultimately 
was  ufed  as  a  foot-bridge  acrofs  a  brook. 
Acrofs  this  plank  the  Queen  had  to  pafs, 
but  fhe,  recognifing  its  holy  virtue, 
refufed  to  walk  acrofs  it,  preferring  to 
wade  the  brook,  which,  having  done,  fhe 
expounded  its  value  to  Solomon,  and 
prophefied  that  out  of  it  fhould  be  made 
the  Crofs  on  which  Jefus  fhould  fufFer. 

She  afterwards  became  one  of  Solomon's 
wives,  and   bore  him   a   fon,  and  then 


©ifiorp  of  tfie  €rof0. 


returned  to  her  own  land,  and  from  this 
fon  are  defcended  the  kings  of  Abyflynia. 
The  legend  on  the  label  is,  as  far  as  is 
legible,  Regina  Saba  fama  Salomonis 
(addu(5t)     A     VENIT    (lero)sOLUMA    UBi 

LIGNUM  IN   .    .    .  ABATICA  .    .    .    IT    .    .    . 
GENIS    .    .    .    PERSOLVETUR. 

Plate  B  is,  virtually,  two;  one  fhowing 
the  angel  appearing  to  Conftantine  when, 
early  in  the .  fourth  century,  he  was 
advancing  towards  Rome  againft  Maxen- 
tius;  but  the  legend  of  the  miraculous 
infcription  which  appeared  in  the  fky, 
"In  hoc  signo  vinces,"  does  not  appear. 
The  other,  and  larger  portion,  reprefents 
his  vidiory  over  Maxentius,  and  he  is 
reprefented  as  fpearing  and  killing  that 
monarch ;  but  this  is  not  hiftorically 
correct,  for,  after  his  defeat,  as  Maxentius 
fled  towards  Rome,  elTaying  to  crofs  the 
Tiber  over  a  rotten  bridge,  it  gave  way, 
and  he  was  drowned.  It  is  noticeable 
that  the  Chriftian  flag  bears  the  Tau 
Crofs. 


Ixix 


Ixx 


Cbe  Legentiatp 


The  Plates  C  and  D  run  into  each  other ^ 
although  they  -portray  different  /ubje5fSj  O 
being  the  departure  of  St.  Helena  for  Jerujalem 
on  her  queji  of  the  holy  Crofs.  The  label  in 
this  frefco  is  utterly  illegible. 

Plate  D  fhows  Judas  (called  Julius  in 
the  label)  Cyryacus  (the  Quyryache  of 
the  Golden  Legend)  being  releafed,  after 
having  been  forced,  through  imprifon- 
ment  and  ftarvation,  into  confeffing 
where  the  holy  Crofs  lay  buried.  In 
the  upper  part  St.  Helena  is  receiving  the 
holy  Crofs,  whilft  labourers  are  uncover- 
ing the  Tau  CrolTes  of  the  two  thieves. 

The  legend  is  mutilated,  but  enough 
remains  to  make  its  meaning  clear  : 
**Here  Seynte  helyne  EXAMY(neth) 
THE  I(ews  for)  Y^  Holy  cros  .... 
luLius  CYRYACUS  (faith  that  he  knew 
w)here  hete  was." 

The  legend  in  Plate  E  is  nearly  ferfe^^ 
and  accurately  dejcribes  the  painting.^    "  Hyt 

V/AS        PROVED        EVIDENTLY       BY       MYRAKEL 
WHICH     WAS      YE     very      CROS      THAT      DURE 

Savyour    suffyred   ....   In   resynge  a 
made  from   deth  to   lyfe." 


D 


Here  all  the  CrolTes  are  of  the  Tau 
type,  and  the  fcene  is  laid  in  a  foreft, 
where  an  old  labourer,  and  a  bill- 
man,  and  the  deer  nibbling  the  trees, 
give  a  rural  afped:,  inftead  of  in  the 
City  of  Jerufalem,  as  faith  the  Golden 
Legend. 

Plate  F  evidently  confifts  of  two 
feparate  paintings — one,  where  St.  Helena 
is  reverently  carrying  the  Crofs  into 
Jerufalem,  whilfl  the  angels  in  heaven  are 
difcourling  eeleftial  mulic ;  and  the  other, 
its  reception  either  in  Jerufalem  or 
Byzantium,  whither  St.  Helena  fent  a  por- 
tion as  a  prefent  to  her  fon.  And  this 
latter  feems  the  more  probable,  if  we 
imagine  the  King,  who,  with  St.  Helena, 
is  adoring  the  Crucifix,  to  be  the  emperor 
Conftantine,  a  fa6t  which  might  have 
been  fettled  had  the  label  been  legible. 

The  legend  at  the  bottom  is  un- 
fortunately mutilated,  but  that  evidently 
relates  to  that  portion  of  the  Crofs  which 
remained  at  Jerufalem,  becaufe  it  fpeaks 


^iftorp  of  fte  Crofs. 


Ixxiii 


of  Chofroes :  "  Here  the  hole  cros 
WAS  broughte   solemly   yn   to   the 

.    .    .    .    IN    Y^     BYSSHOPS     HANDS     EASILY 

AND  (remaynyd)  un  to  the  tyme  of 
(King  Co(ifd)ROE. 

Plates  G  and  H  reprefent  the  flory 
told  in  the  Golden  Legend,  of  Heraclius 
bearing  the  Crofs  into  Jerufalem,  how 
the  gate  miraculoufly  clofed,  and  an 
angel  appeared  in  the  heavens  and 
reproved  Heraclius  for  riding  in  ftate 
on  the  very  fpot  where  Jefus  had  gone 
in  all  meeknefs,  and  lowlinefs,  to  His 
paffion.  The  legend  is  erafed  in  parts, 
the   unmutilated   portion    reading,   "  As 

THE  NOBUL  KYNGE  ERACLYUS  COM 
RYDYNG  TOWARDE  Y^  CYTTE  OF  JERU- 
SALEM BERYNG  Y^  CROSSE  SO  GRETE 
PRYDE    ....     WHERE   Y^    .    .    .    ." 

Naturally,  the  poiTeffion  of  a  piece  of 
the  true  Crofs  would  be  efteemed  as  a 
moft  precious  property.  No  matter  how 
fmall,  it  would  be  reverentially  enclofed 
in  cryftal  and  gold,  and  was  more  than 


Ixxiv 

Cbe  !Leg:enuarp 

a  prefent  fit  for  an  emperor  or  king,  and 
we  cannot  marvel  that  fmall  pieces  were 
diftributed  all  over  Chriftendom.  Poflibly 
fome  of  the  relics  fhown  as  pieces  of  the 
very  Crofs  might  not  have   been  what 
they  were  fuppofed  to  be,  but  it  is  hard 
to    believe    what    John    Calvin*    wrote 
about  it : — 

"  And  fyrft  of  all  let  us  begynne  to 
fpeake  of  his  crolTe,  whereupon  he  was 
hanged.     I  know  that  it  is  holden  for  a 
certaintie  that  it  was  founde  of  Heline 
the  mother  of  Conftantine  the  Romaine 
Emperour.     I  knowe  alfo  what  certaine 
Dodtours    have    written    touching    the 
approbation    hereof,  for  to   certifie  that 
the  crofle  which  fhe  found  was  without 
doute    the    felfe    fame    on    the    whiche 
lefus  Chrift  was  hanged.       Touchynge 
all  this  I  reporte  me  to  the  thynge  it  felfe, 
fo  much  is  there  that  it  was  but  a  folifh 
curiofitie  of  her,  or  at  the  leaft  a  folifhe 

*  I  quote  from  the  tranflatlon  by  Steven  Withers,  1561. 

5)iaorp  of  tbe  Crofs* 


Ixxv 


and  unconfidered  devotion.  But  yet  put 
the  cafe  it  had  ben  a  worke  worthy  of 
prayfe  to  her,  for  to  have  taken  paynes 
to  fynde  the  trewe  crofTe,  and  that  our 
lord  had  then  declared  by  myracle  that 
it  was  his  crofle  which  fhe  found ;  Yet 
let  us  onely  conlider  that  which  is  of  our 
time.  Every  one  doeth  holde  that  this 
crofle  which  Helene  founde  is  yet  at 
lerufalem,  and  none  doeth  doute  thereof. 
Although  theEccleliafliicall  hiflory  againft 
fayeth  the  fame  notablye.  For  it  is  ther 
recited  that  Helene  toke  one  part  thereof 
to  fend  to  the  Emperour  her  fonne,  who 
put  the  fame  at  Conftantinople  upon  a 
fyne  pyller  of  Marble  in  the  myddeft  of 
the  market.  Of  the  other  part,  it  is 
fayde  that  fhe  did  locke  the  fame  in  a 
copher  of  filver,  and  gave  it  to  the  Bifhop 
of  lerufalem  to  kepe.  So  then  eyther 
we  fhall  augment  the  hiftorie  of  a  lie  or 
els  that  which  is  holden  at  this  daye  of 
the  true  Crofl^e,  is  but  a  vayne  and 
triflyng  opinion. 


ixxvi 


Blocks — billets 


Cbe  legenDarp 


*'  Let  us  confider  on  the  other  part 
howe  many  peeces  there  are  thereof 
throug  out  the  worlde.  Yf  I  would 
onely  recite  that  whiche  I  coulde  fay 
there  woulde  be  a  regifter  fufficient  to 
fyl  a  whole  boke.  There  is  not  fo  little 
a  town  where  there  is  not  fome  peece 
thereof,  and  that  not  onelye  in  cathedrall 
churches,  but  alfo  in  fome  parifhes. 
Likewife  ther  is  not  fo  wicked  an  abbey 
where  there  is  not  of  it  to  be  fhewed. 
And  in  fome  places  ther  are  good  great 
fhydes : '  as  at  the  holye  chappell  of  Paris, 
and  at  Poitiers  &  at  Rome,  where  there 
is  a  great  crucifix  made  thereof  as  men 
faye.  To  be  fhort,  yf  a  man  woulde 
gather  together  all  that  hath  bene  founde 
of  this  crofTe,  there  would  be  inough  to 
fraighte  a  great  fhip.  The  Gofpell  tefti- 
fieth  that  the  croffe  myght  be  caried  of 
one  man.  What  audacitie  then  was  this 
to  fyll  the  earth  with  pieces  of  wod  in 
fuche  quantitie,  that  thre  hundred  men 
can  not  cary  them,"  &c. 


5)morp  of  t&e  Ctof0. 


Ixxvii 


Calvin  was  full  of  zeal,  and  could  not 
ftoop  to  particularife.  Witnefs  his  affer- 
tion  that  the  Crofs  would  freight  a  fhip, 
and  yet  that  three  hundred  men  could 
carry  it.  M.  Rohault  de  Fleury  has 
gone  very  minutely  into  this  matter. 
Knowing,  from  microfcopical  examina- 
tion, that  feveral  of  the  relics  of  the 
Crofs  were  of  pine,  he  accepts  this  wood 
as  his  bafis,  and,  from  its  probable  lize, 
he  deduces  a  weight  of  i  oo  kilogrammes, 
equal  to  about  240  Englifh  lbs. ;  and, 
taking  the  average  denfity  of  pine,  he 
eftimates  that  this  would  give  178  mil- 
lions of  cubic  millimetres.  He  then 
defcribes  all  the  known  pieces  in  Europe, 
Jerufalem,  and  Mount  Athos,  with  their 
meafurements,  and  he  puts  the  outcome 
at  3,941,975  cubic  millimetres;  thus, 
according  to  his  (hewing,  there  is  but  a 
very  fmall  portion  of  the  Holy  Crofs  in 
exiflence.  I  fubjoin  his  lift  of  the 
places  in  which  pieces  of  the  Crofs  are 
known  to  exift,  as  it  is  moft  interefting. 


fhowing   the   comparative   bulk    of  the 
pieces,  in  cubic  millimetres : — 

Aix  la  Chapelle      ...  150 

Amiens 4*500 

Angers 2,640 

Angleterre 30,516 

Aries 8,000 

Arras 10,314 

Athos  (le  Mont)      .     .     .  878,360 

Autun 50 

Avignon 220 

Baug^ 1 04,000 

Bernay 375 

Befangon 1,000 

Bologne 15,000 

Bonifacio 47,960 

Bordeaux 3>42o 

Bourbon  TArchambault    .  29,275 

Bourges 22,275 

Bruxelles 516,090 

Chalmarques      ....  „ 

Carried  forv^ard     1,674,145 


©iaotp  of  tfte  Crof0. 


Ixxix 


Brought  forward      1,674,145 

Chalons 200 

Chamirey 605 

Chatillon „ 

ChefFes  (Anjou)      ...  100 

Chelles 

Compiegne 1,896 

Conques 108 

Cortone    .     . '   .     .     .     .  3,000 

Courtrai 200 

I^ijon 33*091 

Donawert 12,000 

Faghine „ 

Florence 37,640 

Fumes 5*250 

Gand 436,450 

Genes 26,458 

Gramont 5,000 

Jancourt  (Aube)      .     .     .  3,500 

Jerufalem 5>045 

Langres 200 

Laon 


Carried  forward     2,244,888 


Ixxx 


Clje  legenDarp 


Brought  forward     2,244,888 

Libourne 3>ooo 

Lille .  15,112 

Limbourg 133,768 

Longpont i>i36 

Lorris „ 

Lyon 1,696 

Macon 2,000 

Maeftricht 10,000 

Marfeille 150 

Milan        1,920 

Montepulciano  ....  500 

Naples 10,000 

Nevers 176 

Nuremberg „ 

Padoue 64 

Paris 237,731 

Pifa 8,175 

Poitiers 870 

Pontigny 12,000 

Ragufe 169,324 

Riel  les  Eaux     ....  671 

C  arried  forward     2,853,181 


5)iflorp  of  tU  Ctof0, 

Ixxxi 

■ 

Brought  forward     2,853,181 

Rome 

Royaumont  . 
Saint  Die 

537>5^7 
99 

Saint  Florent 

400 

Saint  Quentin 

5,000 

Saint  Sepolcro 
Sens     .... 
Sienne 

200 

69>545 
1,680 

Tournai    . 

2,000 

Treves 

18,000 

Troyes      .     . 
Turin  .     .     . 

201 
6,500 

Venice 
Venloo 

■  445^582 

Walcourt 

2,000 

Wambach 

• 

»> 

Total    .     . 

3>94i»975 

According  to  this  table  we  are  credited 

in  England  with  30,5 16  cubic  millimetres 
of  the  holy  Crofs,  and  it   is  interefting 
to   know  where  they  are  iituated.     M. 

Ixxxii 


Cbe  legennarp 


Rohault  de  Fleury,  writing  in  1870, 
fays  there  were  pieces  at  Ifleworth;  St. 
Gregory,  Downiide,  near  Bath;  in  the 
pofTeflion  of  Lord  Petre;  at  Bergholt 
Eaft,  in  Suffolk;  at  Plowden  ;  at  the  con- 
vent of  St.  Mary, York ;  at  Weft  Grinftead ; 
at  St.  George's,  South wark;  and  SHndon, 
Suffex. 

Thefe  pieces  of  the  holy  Crofs  are  not 
large,  as  the  following  table,  in  cubic 
millimetres,  (hows: — 


At  Ifleworth 1,000 

„  College  of  St.  Gregory  .  6,120 

Lord  Petre  (two  relics)       .  8,287 

At  St.  Mary,  Bergholt  Eaft  1,008 

„  Plowden  Hall,  Salop     .  262 

„  St.  Mary, York  (two  relics)  5,600 

„  Weft  Grinftead         „  38 
„  St.  George's,  Southwark 

(four  relics)  ....  63 

„  St.  Richard,  Slindon       .  8,100 


Total 


30,516 


^iflorp  of  tfie  Crof0. 


Ixxxiii 


One  relic  at  St.  Mary's  Convent,  York, 
is  very  fine  ;  it  is  ornamented  with  fcroll- 
work  of  the  tenth  century,  and  bears 
three  impreflions  of  the  feal  of  the  Vicar 
Capitular  of  the  diocefe  of  Saint  Omer, 
1657  ^^  1662.  It  is  a  pe(5toral  crofs  that 
is  fuppofed  to  have  belonged  to  the 
patriarch  Arnulph,  who  was  with  Robert, 
Duke  of  Normandy. 

The  other  is  fuppofed  to  have  been 
attached  to  the  above,  and  to  have 
belonged  equally  to  Arnulph,  patriarch 
of  Jerufalem.  This  is  kept  in  a  filver 
reliquary,  which  alfo  contains  relics  of 
SS.  Ignatius  Loyola  and  Francois  Xavier. 

We  fee  by  the  Golden  Legend,  that 
St.  Helena,  after  finding  the  Crofs,  feeling 
certain  that  the  nails  were  not  far  off, 
profecuted  a  further  fearch  for  them,  and 
they  were  difcovered  "fhynyng  as  gold." 
As  with  the  fafhion  of  the  Crofs,  whether 
it  was  immijfa  or  commijfa^  there  is,  and 
was,  a  controverfy  with  regard  to  the 
nails,  whether  three  or  four. 


Ixxxiv 

Cfte  Legennarp 

Bolius    in  his  learned  and  exhauftive 
book.  Crux  Triumphans  et  Gloriofa*  gives 
several  authorities  for  three  nails  only — 
foremoft,    Gregory    Nazianzen;   but   he 
does  not  give  the  pafTage  where  it  may 
be  found ;  the  quotation,  however,  is 

TvfXVOV  TpifftjX^  KBlfltVOV   i^vKi^  \a&ijv, 

"  having    taken    from    the    three-nailed 
wood  the  dead  (or  hanging)  body."  Thus 
clearly  showing  the  number  of  nails  he 
conlidered  right. 

Bolius  then  goes  on  to  quote  ApoUinaris 
Laodicenus,  who,  in  his  tragedy  entitled 
Chrijius  patiens,  called  the  holy  Crofs  by 
the  fame  words,  rpiaiikov  ^u\w,  "three-nailed 
wood";     and    he    also    quotes  from  the 
Meditat.  vitce  Chrijlioi  Bonaventura,  "////* 
tres  clavl  fuflinent  totius  corporis  pondus'' 
Nonnus,  the  Greek  poet,  writing  in  the 
fifth  century,   alfo  fays  that  our   Lord's 
feet    overlapped    each    other,    and    were 

*  From  this  book  I  have  taken  the  head  and  tail  piece  here 
given. — J.  A. 

^ifiorp  of  tbe  Crof0» 


Ixxxv 


faftened  by  only  one  large  nail.  So  that 
there  is  a  very  fair  amount  of  antiquity 
in  favour  of  three  nails. 

Againft  this  theory  may  be  quoted  the 
authority  of  St.  Cyprian,  St.  Auguftine, 
^  St.  Gregory  of  Tours,  Pope  Innocent  III., 
Rufinus,  Theodoret,  and  others,  who  fay 
four  nails  were  ufed  in  the  Crucifixion  of 
our  Saviour.  The  battle  waged  pic- 
torially  ;  but  perhaps  the  earlieft  known 
reprefentation  of  the  Crucifixion,  that 
found  in  the  Cemetery  of  St.  Julian, 
Pope,  or  of  St.  Valentine  in  Via  Flaminia 
at  Rome,  ought  to  bear  moft  weight. 
Our  Saviour  is  reprefented  as  being  clothed 
in  a  long  lleevelefs  robe,  which  reaches 
to  His  ankles ;  the  feet  are  feparate,  and 
are  each  nailed.  It  is  faid  that  Cimabue 
was  the  firft  to  paint  the  feet  overlapping, 
and  one  nail.  His  example,  however, 
was  much  followed,  and  hence  the 
controverfy. 

Of  thefe  nails,  univerfal  tradition  fays 
that    St.  Helena   fent   two    to   her    fon 


Ixxxvi 


Cbe  HegenBarp 


Constantine,  and,  as  the  Golden  Legend 
has  it,  "the  emperour  dyd  do  fette  them 
in  hys  brydel  and  in  hys  helme  when  he 
wente  to  batayle."  One  can  underftand 
one  of  thefe  facred  nails  being  worn  in 
the  Emperour's  helmet  as  a  prefage 
of  vidlory  and  as  a  fafeguard  againft 
danger,  but  the  utility  of  incorporating 
one  of  fuch  pricelefs  relics  in  a  horfe's 
bridle  is  not  fo  eafy  to  comprehend;  but 
the  fathers  of  the  Church,  St.  Cyril  of 
Alexandria,  St.  Ambrofe,  Theodoret,  and 
St.  Gregory  of  Tours,  recognife  in  it  the 
fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  of  Zecharius, 
chap.  xiv.  20:  "In  that  day  fhall  be 
upon  the  bridles  of  the  horfes.  Holiness 
UNTO  THE  Lord." 

This  bridle,  or  rather  bit,  is  now  faid 
to  be  in  exiftence  in  France  at  Carpentras, 
department  of  Vauclufe.  How  it  got 
there  is  not  clearly  known,  but  probably 
it  was  taken  at  the  time  of  the  Crufades 
— as  leaden  feals  on  which  it  is  engraved 
exift,  attached  to  parchments  of  the  dates 


5)ifiorp  of  tbt  Crof?, 


Ixxxvii 


1226  and  1250,  and  it  was  mentioned  in 
an  inventory  of  relics  in  the  year  1322. 
I  have   reproduced  it,  as  well   as  the 


'  The  iron  crown  of  Lombardy.  *  The  holy  bridle  at  Car- 
pentras.  '  Nail  at  Venice.  ■•  Nail  at  Rome  in  Sta.  Maria  in 
Campitelli.  *  Nail  at  Arras.  «Nail  at  Colle.  '^  Nail  in  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Crofs  of  Jerufalem,  at  Rome.  ^  Portion 
of  nail  at  Toul.     ^  Nail  at  Treves. 


Ixxxviii 


Ci)e  Hcgennarp 


Iron  Crown  of  Lombardy  and  the  nails, 
from  M.  Rohault  de  Fleury's  work,  and, 
as  will  be  feen,  it  is  undoubtedly  of 
great  antiquity,  clofely  refembling  the 
bits  of  the  Romans. 

According  to  Bolius,  who  quotes 
Gregory  Nazianzen,  a  third  nail  was 
thrown  by  St.  Helena  into  the  Adriatic 
Sea,  in  order  to  calm  a  tempeft;  and  the 
fame  authority  fays  that  the  fourth  was 
depoHted  in  the  head  of  a  ftatue  of  Con- 
ftantine,  but  this  militates  much  againft 
the  number  of  holy  nails  faid  to  be  in 
exiftence.  Calvin  notices  this,  and  is 
down  upon  it  with  fledge  -  hammer 
force : — 

"  Yet  there  is  a  greater  combat  of  the 
nayles.  I  wyll  recite  them  only  that  are 
come  to  my  knowledge.  Thereupon 
there  is  not  fo  lytle  a  childe  but  wyll 
judge  that  the  Devyll  hath  to  much  de- 
luded the  worlde  in  takyng  from  it  both 
underftandyng  and  reafon,  that  it  coulde 
difcerne  nothynge  in  this  matter.     If  the 


auncient  writers  faye  trewe,  and  namely 
Theodorite  Hiftoriographer  of  the  aun- 
cient churche,  Helene  caufed  one  to  be 
nayled  on  her  fonne's  helmet,  the  other 
two  fhe  put  in  his  horfe  bitte.  How  be 
it  Saind:  Ambrofe  fayeth  not  fully  fo. 
For  he  fayeth  that  one  was  put  in 
Conftantine*s  crowne,  of  the  other  his 
horfebit  was  made,  and  the  thirde  Helene 
kept.  Wee  fe  y'  already  more  than 
twelve  hundred  yeres  agone  this  hath 
bene  in  controverfie,  to  wit,  what  was 
become  of  the  nayles.  What  certentie 
can  be  had  of  them  then  at  this  prefent 
time  ? 

"Now  at  Millan  they  bofte  that  thei 
have  y  nayle  that  was  put  in  Conftantine's 
horfe  bitte.  To  the  whiche  the  towne 
of  Carpentras  oppofeth  herfelfe,  fayinge 
that  it  is  fhe  that  hath  it.  Nowe  S. 
Ambrofe  doth  not  faye  that  the  nayle 
was  knit  to  the  bitte,  but  that  the  bitte 
was  made  thereof  Whiche  thynge  can 
in  no  wyfe  be  made  to  agre  eyther  w* 


xc  C6e  LegenDatp 

their  faying  of  Milan  or  w'  theirs  of 
Carpentras. 

"  Moreover  there  is  one  in  Rome  at 
Sainft  Helenes ;  another  alfo  at  Sene, 
another  at  Venife.  In  Germany  two : 
at  CoUyne  one,  at  the  three  Maries  : 
another  at  Triers,  one  in  Fraunce  at  the 
holy  chappell  of  Paris,  another  at  y^ 
Carmes,  one  alfo  at  Saindt  Denis  in 
France  :  one  at  Burges  :  one  at  Tenaill, 
one  at  Draguine. 

"Beholde  here  fourteene,  whereof 
account  is  made ;  in  every  place  they 
alledge  good  approbation  for  themfelves, 
as  they  fuppofe.  And  fo  it  is  that  everye 
one  hath  as  good  right  as  aunother. 
Wherefor  there  is  no  better  way  then  to 
make  them  all  palTe  under  one  fidelium. 
That  is  to  faye,  to  repute  all  that  they 
faye  hereof  to  be  but  lyes,  feying  that 
otherwife  a  man  fhoulde  never  come  to 
an  ende." 

What  would  Calvin  have  faid  if  he 
had   feen    the    formidable    lift   of   holy 


©iCfotp  of  tU  CtOf!8l» 


XCl 


nails  enumerated  by  Guifto  (or  Juftus) 
Fontanini,  Archbifhop  of  Ancyra  ?  which 
is  as  follows  : — 

1 .  Aix  la  Chapelle. 

2.  Ancona,  in  the  Cathedral. 

3.  Bamberg. 

4 .  In  Bavaria,  Convent  of  Audechfen. 

5.  Carpentras.     The  Holy  Bit. 

6.  Catania,  Sicily. 

7.  Colle,  in  Tufcany. 

8.  Cologne. 

9.  The  Efcurial  in  Spain. 

10.  Milan. 

11.  Monza.     The  Iron  Crown. 

12.  Naples.  Monaftery  of  S.  Patricius. 

13.  Nuremberg.   Church  of  the  Holy 

Virgin. 

14.  Paris. 

15.  Rome.     Two  Nails.     Church  of 

the  Holy  Crofs  of  Jerufalem; 
Church  of  Santa  Maria  in 
Campitelli. 

1 6.  Sienna.     Hofpital  Sainte  Marie  de 

de  I'Echelle. 


xeii 

€bt  Legennatp 

17.  Spoleto. 

18.  Torcello,   near   Venice.     Church 

of  S.  Anthony. 

19.  Torno,  on  the  Lake  of  Como. 

20.  Toul. 

21.  Treves. 

22.  Venice.  Three  nails. 

23.  Vienna. 

But  this  lift  is  further  fupplemented 

by   M.   Rohault   de  Fleury,  who   gives 

fix  more  : — 

I.  Arras,  according  to  M.  le  Chev.  de 

Linas. 

2.  Compiegne.    A  point. 

3.  Cracow,  in    Poland,   according   to 

M.  Goffelin. 

4.  Florence. 

5.  Lagney. 

6.  Troyes. 

So  that  no  lefs  than  twenty-nine  towns 

claim  the  pofteflion  of  thirty-two  nails,  all 

differing  in  form,  the  number  of  which 

can  only  be  accounted  for  by  the  fup- 

pofition  that  only  a  portion  of  the  holy 

^ifiorp  of  fte  Crofs. 


X«lll 


nails  has  been  incorporated  into  each  of 
them. 

One  of  the  moft  interefting  relics  in 
connediion  with  the  holy  nails  is  the 
Iron  Crown  of  Lombardy.  This,  as  may 
be  feen  by  reference  to  the  illuftration 
(Fig.  I ),  is  a  circlet  of  gold,  ornamented 
with  precious  ftones,  and  it  is  indebted 
for  its  name  of  "Iron"  to  a  thin  band  (A) 
of  that  metal,  which  is  inside  the  gold 
circlet.  The  Crown  itfelf  is  of  very 
antique  form,  being  even  devoid  of  rays, 
and  is  too  fmall  to  go  on  the  head. 
Charlemagne  was  crowned  with  it  in 
774,  and  Napoleon  did  not  think  him- 
felf  King  of  Italy  until  he  had  placed 
this  precious  diadem  on  his  head,  in 
1805.  It  is  kept  at  Monza,  nine  miles 
from  Milan,  in  the  Cathedral,  which  is 
of  great  antiquity.  There  it  repofes  in 
a  huge  crofs  placed  over  the  altar. 

Of  the  relics  of  the  Crofs  there  now 
remains  but  two  fpecks  of  the  title  or 
infcription  thereon,  and  here,  again,  I  am 


XCIV 


Cbe  LcgenDarp 


ISMmmrmra 


©iftorp  of  tje  Crof0.  xcv 


indebted  to  M.  Rohault  de  Fleury  for 
the  illuftration  on  page  xciv.,  as  it  feems 
to  me  to  be  the  beft  yet  publifhed. 

The  Evangelifts,  although  agreeing  in 
the  fpirit  of  the  infcription,  vary  as  to  the 
letter. 

Says  St.  Matthew  :  '*  This  is  Jefus  the 
King  of  the  Jews." 
„     St.    Mark:    '*The  King  of  the 

Jews." 
„     St.  Luke :  *'This  is  the  King  of 

the  Jews." 

„     St.  John :  "  Jefus  of  Nazareth  the 

King  of  the  Jews." 

Neither  St.  Matthew  nor  St.  Mark  note 

the  tri-lingual  chara(fler,  and  SS.  Luke 

and  John  vary  as   to  the   order  of  the 

different  languages  ;    the  former   faying 

it  was  in  Greek,  Latin,  and  Hebrew — 

the  latter  that  it  was  in  Hebrew,  Greek, 

and  Latin.     The  latter  is  the  generally 

accepted  form,  and  the  reafon  given  is, 

that     Hebrew,     being     the      common 

language,  it  would  naturally  come  firft. 


XCVl 


Cfte  LegenDatp 


as  we  fhould  do  in  an  Englifh  notice,  firft 
in  Englifh,  then,  fay  in  French  and 
German,  for  the  benefit  of  foreigners, 
as  were  the  Greeks  and  Romans  in 
Jerufalem. 

The  tradition  is  that,  along  with  the 
Crofs,  St.  Helena  found  the  infcription, 
and  that  fhe  fent  it,  together  with  a  piece 
of  the  Holy  Crofs  and  a  number  of  other 
facred  relics,  to  Rome,  where  it  was 
depofited  in  the  bafilica  of  Santa  Croce. 
Here  it  remained  until  Valentinian, 
fearing  that  it  might  fall  into  the  hands 
of  the  Goths  and  Huns,  hid  it  in  the 
wall  of  the  building,  until  it  was  found 
in  1492. 

Valentinian  died  A. D.  375, and  Antoninus 
Martyr,  in  his  De  Locis  SanBis  (fee.  20), 
written  about  a.d.  570,  fays  he  faw  the 
infcription  which  had  been  placed  on  the 
Crofs,  and  that  the  words  were,  "  lefus 
Nazarenus  Rex  ludasorum."  He  fays  that 
he  held  it  in  his  hand,  and  kiffed  it,  in 
the  Church  of  Conflantine  at  Jerufalem, 


^iftorp  of  tbe  Ctof0. 


xcrii 


Hence  it  is  evident  that  either  tradition  is 
incorred,  or  that  Antoninus  did  not  tell 
the  truth. 

But  the  claim  is  that  it  is,  and  always 
has  been,  in  Rome,  and  Bofius,  in  his 
Crux  Triumphans  (p.  60),  gives  an  account 
of  its  re-difcovery.  He  fays  that  in 
February,  1492,  Monfeigneur  Pedro 
Gonfalvo  de  Mendoza,  Cardinal  Sanftse 
Crucis,  was  repairing  and  cleanfing  his 
church,  and  on  the  firft  day  of  that  month, 
when  the  workmen  reached  the  top  of 
the  arch  which  was  in  the  middle  of  the 
bafilica,  and  near  the  roof,  they  faw  two 
fmall  columns ;  and  finding  a  fpace,  they 
difcovered  a  niche  in  which  they  found  a 
leaden  box,  well  clofed,  and  on  its  lid 
was  a  tablet  of  marble,  on  which  were 
engraved  thefe  words :  Hic  est  Titvlvs 
Ver^  Crucis.  In  this  box  was  found 
a  little  board,  about  a  hand's  breadth 
and  a  half,  much  corroded  on  one  fide 
by  time,  and  bearing,  in  grooved,  engraved 
charaders,  which  were  coloured  red,  the 


XCVIU 


Clje  Legennatp 


following  infcription  :  Iesvs  Nazarenvs 
RexIvd^orvm.  But  the  word  Ivd^orvm 
was  not  entire,  the  laft  two  letters  vm 
having  crumbled  to  pieces  by  reafon  of 
old  age.  The  firft  line  was  written  in 
Latin  characfters,  the  fecond  in  Greek, 
and  the  third  in  Hebrew. 

All  the  city  went  to  fee  it ;  and  three 
days  afterwards.  Pope  Innocent  went  alfo, 
and  ordered  the  relic  to  be  preferved  in 
its  box,  and  covered  with  a  fheet  ot 
glafs.  Every  one  was  convinced  that 
they  had  before  their  eyes  the  infcription 
which  Pilate  placed  upon  the  Crofs  over 
our  Saviour's  head,  and  which  Saint 
Helena  had  depofited  in  the  church  at 
the  time  of  its  building. 

The  relic,  as  now  feen,  is  very  worm- 
eaten,  but  the  letters  are  ftill  vifible, 
and  have  been  cut  with  a  fmall  gouge. 
They  read  from  right  to  left,  as  Hebrew 
does,  thus  lending  great  plaufibility  to 
the  idea  that  it  was  done  by  fome  Jewilh 
artificers ;    and  it  feems   to  be  of  fome 


^ilJotp  of  tbt  Crofs. 


xcix 


clofe-grained  wood.  Taking  the  piece 
now  at  Santa  Croce,  the  whole  infcrip- 
tion,  if  reftored,  would  be  thus : 


^'T^n^i)  liy)  '1'^^ y^^' 

H^3A^IDV3\DAa3VH39  A2AM    iD^oai 

Mv5io3avix3a2vi/imA^AM  eveBi 


"itbe  Infcripion  at  Santa  Croce^  reftored. 


Notes  on  the  fVoodcuts. 


HE  Hiftory  of  the  Legend 
of  the  Holy  Crofs  which 
is  here  reproduced,  is 
fomewhat  fuller  than  the 
Golden  Legend  of  Caxton, 
there  being  particulars 
about  Mofes,  David,  and  Solomon  not 
to  be  found  therein;  but  they  may  be 
found  in  other  verfions  of  the  Legend,  fome 
in  the  Latin  of  Jacobus  deVoragine,  others 
in  two  MSS.  in  the  Britifh  Mufeum.* 

The  engravings  are  taken  from  a  very 
rare  book,  of  which,  as  far  as  is  known, 

"^  Arundel,  No.  507,  and  Add.  MSS.  6514. 


cii 

Cbe  Hegennarp 

there  are  but  three  copies  in  exiftence : 
one  is  in  the  Royal  Library  at  Bruffels, 
another  at  the  Hague,  in  the  colled:ion 
of  Mr.  Schinkel,  and  the  third  is  in  the 
pofTeffion  of  Lord  Spencer  at  Althorp. 
It  is  from  this  book  that  thefe  fac-fimiles 
(made  by  M.  J.  Ph.  Berjeau)  were  taken. 
The  book  itfelf  has  one  woodcut  on  each 
page,   with   a   verfe   in   Dutch,    at    the 
bottom,  explanatory  of  each  engraving. 
It  is  called  indifferently  Hijloria   SanSlce 
Cruets  or  Boec  van  den  houte  (Book  of 
the  wood  or  tree). 

It  was  printed  at  Kuilenburg  on  March 
6th,  1483,  by  John  Veldener,*  who  had 
juft    removed    from    Louvain.      Thefe 
fixty-four  engravings  were  originally  on 
thirty-two  blocks,!  and  evidently  belonged 
to   fome   much  older  block  book,  now 

*  His   life   and   labours   may   be   read   in    Mr.  Hottrop's 
Monuments  Typographiques  des  Pays-bas — , 

f  See  The  Woodcutters  of  the  Netherlands  in  the  i^th  Century, 
by  W.  M.  Conway,  and  an  article  by  him  in  the  Bibliographer 
of  May,  1883,  p.  32. 

f^iHot^  of  tbe  Crofs. 


em 


loft.  Thefe,  Veldener  cut  in  half,  as  he 
had  already  treated  a  Speculum,  and 
brought  them  out  as  a  frefh  book. 

The  Legend  as  told  by  thefe  engravings 
is  as  follows : — 

Adam,  feeling  himfelf  about  to  die, 
fent  Seth  to  Paradife  to  beg  for  fome  ot 
the  oil  of  mercy,"  which,  however,  the 
Archangel  Michael  refufed  to  give  him, 
but,  inftead,  prefented  him  with  three 
feeds  of  the  tree  of  life.^  On  his  return, 
he  found  Adam  dead,  and,  being  unable 
to  adminifter  thefe  feeds  to  his  father  in 
any  other  manner,  he  put  them  under 
his  tongue,  and  then  buried  him.^  Pre- 
fently  thefe  feeds  germinated  and  fhot 
through  the  ground,  and  are  traditionally 
faid  to  have  been  a  cedar,  a  cyprefs,  and 
a  pine/  They  grew  until  Mofes  had  led 
the  Ifraelites  out  of  Egypt,  when  he  found 
them  in  the  Valley  of  Hebron,  and  he 
recognized  them  as  typifying  the  Trinity. 
He  removed  them,  and  they  were  his 
conftant    companions.^    With    them    he 


Woodcut  No.  1 . 


No. 


No.  3. 


No.^. 


No.  5. 


CIV 


Cfie  JLegennarp 


Woodcut 
No.  6. 

Nos.  7,  8. 
No.  9. 

No.  10. 

A'i?.  II. 
No.  12. 

^0.  13. 


A'o.  14, 

No.  15. 
//o.  16. 


fmote  the  rock,  and  the  waters  gufhed 
out/  and  the  bitter  waters  of  Marah 
became  fweet/*^ 

He  then  planted  them  in  the  land  of 
Moab,''  and  there  they  remained,  until  an 
angelic  vifion  appeared  unto  David,  and 
commanded  him  to  go,  and  take  them 
up,  and  bring  them  to  Jerufalem.'°  On 
his  return  the  three  rods  worked  miracles, 
healing  the  fick,"  and  the  leprous,  with 
a  touch  ;'^  nay,  more,  on  being  applied  to 
three  black  men,  they  inftantly  became 
white.'3 

Arrived  at  Jerufalem,  they  wifhed  to 
plant  them,  but  for  the  night  they  left 
them  in  a  ciflern,  by  the  Tower  of 
David,'^  and  lo !  during  the  night,  they 
ftruck  root,  and,  entwining  themfelves, 
became  but  one  ftem,'^  which,  when 
David  faw,  he  had  a  wall  built  round  it/^ 
And  the  tree  grew  for  thirty  years,  David 
ornamenting  it  with  rings  of  fapphire 
and  other  precious  ilones,  adding  one  for 
every  year,  and  under  this  tree  he  com- 


5)iCorp  of  tbe  Crofe. 


cv 


pofed    the    Pfalms,    and    praifed    God 
exceedingly." 

But  Solomon,  who  muft  needs  have 
all  that  was  rare  and  coflly  to  adorn  his 
temple,  cafl  his  eyes  upon  this  precious 
tree,  and  ordered  it  to  be  cut  down.'^  It 
was  duly  felled,  and  fquared,  and  trimmed, 
and  it  meafured  thirty  cubits  in  length.'^ 
But  when  the  carpenters  came  to  put  it 
into  a  place  of  that  length,  it  was  a  cubit 
too  fhort,  and  when  it  was  fitted  into 
a  place  of  twenty-nine  cubits,  lo !  it 
meafured  thirty,  and  the  carpenters  mar- 
velled much,  and  were  greatly  aftonifhed, 
and  fo,  being  ufelefs,  it  was  laid  alide.'° 
Yet  the  people  came  to  fee  this  wonderful 
tree,  and  amongft  them  was  a  maid 
named  Maximilla,  who  fat  down  upon 
it,  and  inftantly  her  clothes  were  in  a 
blaze."  Then  fhe  began  to  lift  up  her 
voice,  and  prophefy,  crying,  "  My  God, 
and  my  Lord  Jefu  Chrift."  "  Then  the 
Jews  took  her,  and  fcourged  her  to 
death.'' 


Woodcut 
No.  17. 


No.  18. 


No.  19. 


No.  20. 


No. 


No.  12. 


No.  .5. 


H 


CVl 


Cte  Legmtiarp 


ffoodcut 
No.  24. 


The  Jews,  not  knowing  what  to  do 
with  this  miraculous  tree,  laid  it  acrofs  a 
brook/*  and,  when  the  Queen  of  Sheba 
came  to  vilit  Solomon,  fhe  recognized 
the  virtue  of  the  wood;  and,  refufing  to 
defile  it  with  her  feet,  ihe  difmounted, 
and  adored  it,  and  waded  through  the 
brook/^  Then,  when  Ihe  met  Solomon, 
Ihe  reproved  him,  and  told  him  that  on 
that  tree  would  the  Saviour  of  the  world 
fuffer  death /^  And  Solomon  commanded 
the  holy  wood  to  be  taken  up,^  and 
caufed  it  to  be  carried  into  the  Temple, 
there  to  be  placed  over  the  door,  fo  that 
all  men  might  blefs,  and  adore  it,  and  he 
coated  it  over  with  gold  and  filver.*^ 
There  it  remained  until  Abias  flripped  it 
of  its  coflly  coverings,"'  and  the  Jews 
buried  it  deep  in  the  earth. ^^ 

There  it  remained  for  many  years, 
until  the  Jews  wifhed  to  make  a  pool, 
where  the  priefts  might  wafh  the  bcafb, 
to  purify  them,  previous  to  facrificing 
them,  and,  unknowingly,  they  dug  over 


No.  25. 


No.  26. 
No.  27. 


No.  »8. 

No.  19. 
No.  30. 


©iflorp  of  tbz  Crof0, 


evil 


the  burial-place  of  the  Holy  Crofs.^'  This 
imparted  fuch  a  virtue  to  the  water  of 
that  pool,  which  was  called  Bethefda, 
that  the  fick  were  healed  thereat,  and  an 
angel  at  times  defcended  from  heaven, 
and  flirred  the  waters,  and  then  whoever 
could  get  firft  into  the  waters  was  ftraight- 
way  healed  of  any  infirmity  he  might 
have.3" 

We  now  come  to  the  Crucifixion, 
and  there  was  a  lack  of  wood  to  make 
Chrift's  crofs — when,  fuddenly,  from  the 
depths  of  Bethefda,  leaped  up  the  tree 
of  the  Crofs,  and  floated  gently  to  land. 
One  ran  to  the  High  Prieft,"  and  told 
him  of  the  timely  find  of  fuitable  wood, 
and  he  at  once  gave  orders  for  it  to  be 
falhioned  into  a  Crofs.^*  Then  comes 
the  mournful  proceflion  to  Calvary,  with 
our  Saviour  fainting  under  the  weight  of 
the  Crofs,  and  Simon  the  Cyrenean  is 
prefixed  into  the  fervice  to  help  Jefus." 
And  then  the  Crucifixion. ^^ 

And  whilft  the  crofi"es  were  ftill  fland- 


JToodcut 
No.  31. 


No.  3*. 


No.  33. 


No.  34.. 


No.  35. 
No.  36. 


CVUl 


CDe  HegenDarp 


Woodcut 

No.  37. 


No.ii%. 
No.  39. 


ing,  the  difciples  came  to  them  and 
prayed,  and  many  were  healed  of  their 
infirmities,  and  many  devils  were  caft 
out."  This  fo  angered  the  Jews  that 
they  took  the  crofTes  down,  and  buried 
them,^^  and  there  they  remained  until 
their  invention  by  St.  Helena,  a.d.  326. 
On  her  arrival  at  Jerufalem,''  fhe  con- 
vened a  meeting  of  the  principal  Jews, 
and  they  denied  all  knowledge  of  it,  but, 
on  threat  of  being  burnt,  they  faid  that 
one  of  their  number,  named  Judas,  knew 
where  the  croiTes  were  buried. *°  Judas, 
however,  refufed  to  tell,  and,  to  compel 
him  to  impart  his  knowledge,  St.  Helena 
had  him  lowered  into  a  dry  well,  "  and 
there  tormented  hym  by  hongre  and  cvyl 
refte."'*'  Seven  days  of  this  treatment 
made  him  fubmiffive,  and  at  the  end  of 
that  time  he  capitulated.  He  was  then 
drawn  up,"^'  and  prayed  to  God  to  direct 
him  to  the  right  fpot."*^  His  prayer  was 
heard,  and  after  fome  digging,  the  crofTes 
were  difcovered."** 


No.  40. 


No.^T. 

No.  41. 
No.  4j. 

No.^A. 


pmt^  of  tbe  Crof0. 


cix 


The  news  was  brought  to  St.  Helena, 
who  vifited  the  fpot/*  but  although  there 
were  certainly  three  crofTes,  no  one  knew 
which  was  the  one  upon  which  Jefus 
fufFered.  A  teft,  however,  was  applied, 
which  proved  to  be  fatisfadtory.  The 
body  of  a  maid  was  being  borne  on  a 
bier  for  burial,  but  the  funeral  proceffion 
was  flopped,  and  the  body  was  touched 
by  the  different  crofTes.  The  two  iirfl 
produced  no  effedl,*^  but  when  the  third 
touched  the  dead  maiden,  fhe  was  at 
once  reflored  to  life."'  Here,  then,  was 
proof  pofitive ;  this  was  the  very  Crofs  ; 
and  St.  Helena,  mindful  of  her  fon  Con- 
ftantine,  divided  the  facred  wood;  part 
fhe  cnclofed  in  a  cafe  of  precious  metal, 
and  kept  at  Jerufalem ;  "^  and  part  fhe 
fent  to  her  fon,  at  Byzantium,  who 
received  it  with  due  reverence,''^  and 
depofited  it  in  the  church,  with  great 
ceremony.*" 

Here  it  remained,  until  it  was  taken 
away,  with  other  fpoil,  by  Chofroes,  the 


fVoodcut 
No.  45. 


No.  46. 
No.  47. 


No.  48. 
No.  49. 
No.  50. 


ex 


Cbe  JLegenHatp 


fToodcut 
No.  51. 


No.  5: 


No.  51. 

No.  54. 


King  of  Perfia,  who,  aware  of  the  fandtity 
of  the  rehc,  had  it  placed  on  the  right 
hand  of  his  throne.  He  was  fo  puffed 
up  with  pride,  that  he  ordered  himfelf 
to  be  adored.  His  people,  hitherto,  had 
worfhipped  the  fun,  but  now  he  ordained 
that  henceforth  he  was  to  be  confidered 
the  principal  Perfon  in  the  Trinity  (the 
Father),  and  that  the  relic  of  the  Crofs 
was  to  be  looked  upon  as  the  Son,  whilft 
a  golden  cock  which  he  had  made  was 
to  reprefent  the  Holy  Ghoft.^' 

Then  Heraclius  made  war  againft 
Chofroes,  and  meeting  with  a  Perfian 
army  under  one  of  the  fons  of  that 
monarch,  it  was  agreed  that,  in  order  to 
prevent  a  ufelefs  effufion  of  blood,  the 
two  commanders  fhould  fight  it  out 
between  them,  and  whoever  was  van- 
quished fhould  fubmit.'"  The  duel  was 
fought  on  a  bridge  over  the  Danube,  and 
Heraclius  vanquifhed  and  killed  the  fon 
of  Chofroes."  The  Perfian  army  then 
made  their  fubmiflion,^*  and  the  penance 


^iflorp  of  tjje  Crof0. 


CXI 


impofed  upon  them  by  the  conqueror 
was  that  they  fhould  all  be  baptized, 
which  was  duly  done. 

Heraclius  then  went  to  Chofroes,  and 
told  him  what  he  had  done,  offering  him 
his  life  if  he  too  would  embrace  Chrif- 
tianity,"  but  the  Periian  monarch  refufed, 
and  Heraclius  fmote  off  his  head.^^  He 
then  crowned  a  Ion  of  Chofroes,  and 
caufed  him  to  be  baptized,"  himfelf  {land- 
ing fponfor,  and  buried  the  flain  king 
with  befitting  honours.^^  Then,  taking 
poffeffion  of  the  holy  relic,''  he  fet  out 
with  it  for  Jerufalem.  But,  as  he  was 
bearing  it  in  great  ftate,  he  came  to  that 
gate  of  the  City  through  which  Jefus 
went  to  His  paflion,  worn,  buffeted, 
fcorned,  and  weary,  carrying  the  heavy 
burden  of  His  crofs.  And  fuddenly  the 
gateway  became  folid  mafonry,  fo  that  he 
could  not  pafs  through,  and  an  angel 
appeared  in  the  heavens,  and  reproved 
him  for  his  oflentatious  difplay  in  a  place 
which  his  Saviour  had  previouHy  trodden 


Woodcta 

No.  55. 

No.  56. 


No.  57. 

No.  58. 
No.  59. 


cxu 


Cfte  Legentiarp  S)i0orp  of  tije  Croft. 


Woodcut 
No.  60. 


No.  61. 
W'o.  62. 


i\^o.  63. 
No.  6+, 


in  fuch  deep  humility.^"  Heraclius  dif- 
mounted  from  his  horfe,  and,  ftripping 
himfelf  of  all  the  trappings  of  royalty, 
barefoot,  and  in  his  fhirt,^'  he  meekly 
bore  the  Crofs  to  its  appointed  place,^' 
the  mafonry  difappearing  as  foon  as  he 
had  humbled  himfelf. 

A  piece  of  the  Crofs  was  afterwards 
fent  to  Rome,  where  it  duly  arrived 
after  a  very  ftormy  voyage,^^  and  it  was 
there  preferved  for  the  adoration  of  the 
faithful.^* 

JOHN  ASHTON. 


Sel^  dm  Rue  wifeniBtDrfT»rflQ£0 
<gn)feoQer  (ufl^^iiep  en^myia 

Adam /ends  Seth  to  Paradije  for  Jome  of  the  Oil  of  Mercy, 


The  Archangel  Michael  gives  Seth  three  feeds  of  the 
Tree  of  Life. 


cxv 


Seth  buries  Adam  and  "puts  the  three  feeds  of  the 
Tree  of  Life  under  his  tongue. 


ex  VI 


The  three  feeds  Jpring  up. 


CXVll 


Mo/es  always  has  the  three  rods  with  him. 


cxvni 


With  them  he  makes  water  flow  from  the  Rock. 


mm^ 


An  Angel  tells  Mojes  how  tojweeten  the  bitter  waters. 


Mo/es,  hy  dip-ping  the  rods  in  the  waters  of  Marah, 
fweetens  them. 


CXXl 


Mo/es  plants  the  rods  in  the  land  of  Moab, 


cxxu 


10 


\'infi 


An  Angel  appears  to  David  and  tells  him  to  bring  the  rods 
to  Jerujalem. 


II 


CXXUl 


The  rods  heal  the  ftck. 


The  rods  heal  a  leper. 


13 


cxxv 


The  rods  turn  three  black  men  white. 


David  leaves  the  rods  for  the  night* 


15 


cxxvu 


In  the  morning  he  finds  the  rods  have  taken  root  and  have 
become  one  tree. 


DavU  builds  a  wall  round  the  miraculous  tree. 


'7 


CXXIX 


iBSfi«f6»h^tt\i^i$iMm 


David  compo/es  the  P/a/ms  and  praifes  God,  under  the  fhadow 

of  the  tree. 


ic 


cxxx 


Solomon  orders  the  tree  to  be  cut  down  and  ujed  in  the  Temple. 


cxxxi 


Artificers  fajhion  the  tree. 


cxxxu 


20 


The  holy  wood  will  fit  nowhere. 


M 


21 


CXXXlll 


Sf.  Maximilla  fitting  on  the  wood,  her  clgthes  catch  alight. 


CXXXIV 


22 


mmaatmteaat 


St.  Maximilla  propheftes  concerning  the  wood. 


cxxxv 


St.  Maximilla/courged  to  death. 


The  wood  u/ed  as  a  foot -bridge  over  a  brook. 


The  Slueen  of  Sheha  prefers  wading  through  the  brook,  to 
walking  over  the  holy  wood. 


CXXXVlll 


26 


1'be  ^ueen  of  Sheika  tells  Solomon  of  the  holy  nature 
of  the  wood. 


27 


CXXXIX 


The  holy  wood  is  taken  up. 


Tl^^  /&^/y  wfii^^  /V  carried  into  the  'Temple. 


Abias  defpoils  the  holy  wood  of  its  precious  covering. 


cxlii 


The  Jews  hury  the  holy  wood. 


31 


cxliii 


^^ig^^i  ibs  Pool  of  Bethefda. 


The/tck  being  healed  at  the  Pool  of  Bethejda. 


33 


cxlv 


Tie  High  Prieft  told  of  the  dijcovery  of  the  holy  wood. 


cxlvi 


34 


7'y&^  /&<?/)'  wood  is  made  into  the  Crofs. 


ChriJ^  bearing  the  Crqfs, 


cxlviii 


The  Crucifixion. 


37 


cxlix 


Difciples  adore  the  CrofSy  thejick  are  healed,  and  devils 

cafi  out. 


cl 


38 


The  Jews  bury  the  CroJJes. 


Sf.  Helena  comes  to  Jerufalem. 


clii 


40 


Sf.  Helena  calls  together  the  Chief  Jews. 


41 


cliii 


'Judas  is  put  into  a  dry  well. 


cliv 


42 


Judas  is  liberated  from  confinement. 


43 


clv 


m  WW  t% 


Judas  prays  for  Divine  dire5iion. 


^m  i»tii^  tit  mxoimt 

The  CroJJes  are  dif covered. 


45 

clvii 

W^M 

I 


^^^MfttlVbM 


CClM^fi(i!i^ 


^ii 


f 


i 


St.  Helena  views  the  Crojfes. 


clviii 

46 

m 

^^^^ 

Aff 

S^^\\^*^ 


f 


7V/fl/  of  the  true  Crofs. 


A  dead  maiden  raifed  to  life  by  being  touched  by  the 
true  Crqfs, 


'  ■    clx 


Sf.  Helena  depofits  a  fortiori  of  the  Crojs  in  Jerujalem. 


49 


clxi 


^^ J»J5*R«et«tttei)iicort" 

St,  Helena  gives  a  portion  of  the  Crojs  to  Conftantine. 


M 


clxii 


so 


Si 


Conftantine  depofits  his  'portion  of  the  Crojs  in  Byzantium. 


51 


clxiii 


Chojroes  commands  his  people  to  adore  him. 


clxiv 


J2 


Meeting  of  Heraclius  and  Chojroes'  [on. 


■fllJ.  ,1.1     I 1 


.J^ 


55 


clxvii 


Of0 


Heraclius  viftts  Cbo/roes. 


:lxviii 


56 


peo^axitit  of  ^|r<<g9»)  ^fy^ 

Heraclius  kills  Chqfroes. 


57 


dxix 


Heraclius  crowns  and  baptizes  t  kef  on  of  Chofroes. 


Burial  of  Chqfroes. 


Heraclius  takes  pojfejfwn  of  the  relic  cj  the  Crofs. 


cl 


XXll 


60 


Heraclius,  attempting  to  enter  Jerufalem,  is  miraculoujly 
prevented,  and  is  reproved  by  an  angel. 


Heraclius  divefts  himfelf  ofjiate. 


clxxiv 


62 


Heraclius  'places  the  relic  of  the  Crofs  in  its  appointed  -place. 


cl 


XXV 


A  portion  of  the  Cro/s  is  Jent  to  Rome^  the  vejfel  bearing  it 
meeting  with  a  Jlorm. 


clxxvi 


64 


The  relic  of  the  Crqfs  exfojed  for  adoration. 


J) 


lii;  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRAHV  FACILirY 


A     000  034  920     9 


